ECDC’s annual surveillance reports provide a wealth of epidemiological data to support decision-making at the national level. They are mainly intended for public health professionals and policymakers involved in disease prevention and control programmes.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 10-16 September 2023 and includes updates on COVID-19, diphtheria, West Nile virus, avian influenza, dengue, legionnaires' disease, the Rugby World Cup 2023, cutaneous Anthrax, pertussis, botulism and severe floods.
Anthrax continues to be uncommon in humans in the EU/EEA, with only a few cases reported every year. For 2021, four confirmed anthrax cases were reported by Bulgaria (one case) and Spain (three cases). Among 30 reporting EU/EEA countries, 27 notified zero cases.
In 2019, 8 874 (7.4%) of patients staying in an intensive care unit (ICU) for more than two days presented with at least one ICU-acquired healthcare-associated infection (HAI) under surveillance (pneumonia, bloodstream infection, or urinary tract infection).
Between 2018 and 2020, nearly 20 000 surgical site infections (SSIs) were reported from a total of over 1.2 million surgical procedures in 13 EU/EEA countries participating in ECDC-coordinated SSI surveillance. Over 2 500 hospitals are part of this surveillance network.
In 2018, 9 860 (7.8%) of patients staying in an intensive care unit (ICU) for more than two days presented with at least one ICU-acquired healthcare-associated infection (HAI) under surveillance (pneumonia, bloodstream infection or urinary tract infection).
The 2016–2017 ECDC point prevalence survey was the second EU-wide point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use in acute care hospitals.
This report is based on data for 2018-2020 retrieved on 13 February 2023 from The European Surveillance System (TESSy) and ECDC’s decentralised data storage for antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections (ARHAI). TESSy is a system for the collection, analysis and dissemination of data on communicable diseases.
For 2020, 28 countries reported 1 647 cases of hantavirus infection (0.4 cases per 100 000 population), mainly caused by Puumala virus (98%). During the period 2016–2020, the overall notification rate fluctuated between 0.4 and 1.0 cases per 100 00 population, with no obvious long-term trend.