Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 27, 04 July 2002

On 1 July 2002 new European guidelines (1), under which the European Working Group for Legionella Infections (EWGLI) will operate, were introduced, as was a new identity for the scheme – EWGLINET. A working group from the surveillance scheme produced the guidelines after wide consultation with all collaborating countries, national and international tour operator bodies and other professional groups.

At the end of May 2002, six cases of legionnaires’ disease were notified to the national legionellosis surveillance scheme at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità within a few days. All cases had onset of illness between 14 and 19 May 2002.

The European centre for the epidemiological monitoring of AIDS (EuroHIV, http://www.eurohiv.org) has published the latest report on HIV/AIDS surveillance in the 51 countries of the WHO European Region (1). The publication covers data reported until the end of 2001 and its release coincides with the latest update from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, http://www.unaids.org/) on the global perspective of the HIV/AIDS epidemic (2).

Forty million people are now estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS, according to the report on the global HIV/AIDS epidemic prepared by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) (1). The report highlights the fact that HIV prevalence in the worst affected countries is surpassing what was previously believed to be a natural peak, and that it is now increasing rapidly in many countries that previously had a low burden of infection.

A cluster of eight cases of Listeria monocytogenes infection with the same serotype and pulsed field gel; electrophoresis (PFGE) profile has been identified by the surveillance scheme operated by the Institut de Veille Sanitaire (national institute for health surveillance) and the national Listeria reference centre at the Institut Pasteur, Paris, since 29 May 2002 (1). The first two strains were isolated in week 22 (27 May-2 June), two more were isolated in week 23 (3-9 June), and four were isolated in week 24 (10-16 June).

The European Region of the World Health Organization (WHO) has become the third WHO region to be certified free of poliomyelitis, it was announced on 21 June at a meeting of the European Regional Commission for the Certification of Poliomyelitis Eradication (RCC) in Copenhagen (1).

Measles vaccine became commercially available in Italy in 1976 and the administration of one dose at 15 months of age was recommended by the ministry of health in 1979. In the 1980s, measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine was introduced, and in 1999 the recommended age for the first dose was lowered to 12 months. Decisions regarding the administration of MMR vaccine are the responsibility of the regional health authorities, and vaccination coverage varies greatly by region. In 1999, taking into account the varying levels of vaccine coverage in children up to the age of 24 months in different regions, the ministry of health recommended strategies including a catch up campaign, and the offer of a second dose (1). A distinction was therefore made between areas with one dose measles vaccine coverage of less than 80% and those with higher levels of coverage. In areas with lower coverage, the vaccination of older susceptible children was emphasised, while in regions where vaccine coverage within the first two years of life exceeded 80%, the administration of a second dose at 5-6 years or at 11-12 years of age was recommended.