Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 16, 18 April 2002

A new case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) was reported in France in March 2002 by the Réseau National de Surveillance de la Maladie de Creutzfeldt-Jakob et Maladies Apparentées (National surveillance network for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and related diseases, (http://www.invs.sante.fr/publications/mcj/reseau_mcj.html), bringing the total number of definite and probable cases in France to six (1).

During the last week of February 2002 (designated ‘winter sports week’ in Sweden), health authorities were informed of several cases of gastroenteritis among guests at a hotel in a holiday resort in Sweden. The area was in peak tourist season during this period, with many visitors from Sweden and abroad.

Reports on surgical site infection (SSI) and hospital acquired bacteraemia (HAB) were published this week from the Nosocomial Infection National Surveillance Service (NINSS) provided by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) in London. These publications are available on the PHLS website (http://www.phls.org.uk/publications/NINSS.htm) and summarise data reported to the Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Unit (NISU) of the PHLS for the period 1997 to 2000.

The January issue of the monthly bulletin Eurosurveillance, also funded by the European Commission, is now available online (in English and French) at http://www.eurosurveillance.org/.