Table. Number of rubella cases by month and notification rate (cases per million) by country, April 2016 to March 2017, EU/EEA countries

Data set
Period: 01 Apr 2016 - 31 Mar 2017
Country 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2016 2017 2017 2017 Total cases Cases per million Total 
lab-positive
 cases
  Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar      
Austria 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 27 3.11 23
Bulgaria 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 3 0.42 0
Croatia 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NR NR NR 2 0.48 2
Cyprus 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Czech Republic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Denmark 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Estonia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Finland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Germany 17 11 15 15 3 4 3 7 5 5 4 8 97 1.18 23
Greece 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Hungary 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NR NR 0 0 0
Iceland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 NR 0 0 0
Ireland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0.21 0
Italy 1 7 5 1 1 0 2 4 3 0 6 NR 30 0.49 7
Latvia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lithuania 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Luxembourg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Malta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Netherlands 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Norway 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Poland 151 110 116 54 53 48 81 64 76 53 40 52 898 23.65 17
Portugal 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 5 0.48 0
Romania 1 2 1 0 3 0 1 2 2 1 NR NR 13 0.66 12
Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Slovenia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Spain 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.02 1
Sweden 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
United Kingdom 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.02 1
Total 171 133 139 71 61 52 87 80 87 59 50 88 1078 2.5 86

NR = Data not reported. Notification rates were calculated using the most recent population estimates available from Eurostat (2015).

Comment:

The national surveillance system for rubella in Denmark currently only captures rubella infections during pregnancy; therefore the true incidence of rubella in the Danish population will be underestimated.

Belgium and France do not operate rubella surveillance systems with national coverage and therefore do not contribute data to the EU/EEA enhanced rubella surveillance.

The target to monitor progress towards elimination is achievement of an incidence of less than one case per million population per year (including confirmed, probable and possible cases but excluding imported cases). Achieving this target is consistent with progress towards elimination but does not define elimination or confirm that it has been achieved. In the table, all cases (endemic, imported, import-related) are included for the calculation of the notification rate.

For countries that did not report data for all 12 months, notification rates might be underestimated.

All confirmed, probable, possible or unknown cases, as defined by the EU 2008 case definition, are included.

Cases were defined as laboratory-positive if at least one of the following variables was reported as positive: serological test for IgG, serological test for IgM, virus detection or isolation or IgG avidity test.

Note: 

The number of cases are displayed according to month of statistics, which contains a date chosen by the country for reporting purposes. This date may indicate the onset of disease, the date of diagnosis, the date of notification, or the date of laboratory confirmation.

Countries report on rubella and other vaccine-preventable diseases to TESSy at their own convenience. This implies that the date of retrieval can influence the presentation of data. Inconsistencies with measles data reported previously might arise as countries may update their data in TESSy retrospectively.

Comparisons between countries should be made with caution because of dissimilar surveillance sensitivities, completeness of reporting and different reporting procedures. Moreover, under-notification is a well recognized limitation of nationwide mandatory notification systems.