External quality assessment (EQA) is an essential part of any laboratory-based surveillance system, allowing for the monitoring of performance and comparability of results from participating laboratories, identification of potential issues, and deployment of resources and training where necessary.
This report presents a comprehensive analysis of the results of a 2017 survey among men who have sex with men (MSM). Based on the responses of some 128 000 participants in Europe, it provides insights on their knowledge of HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STI), sexual behaviour, prevention needs and testing habits.
This report presents the results of the third round of the EQA on AST for national public health laboratories for Campylobacter (Campylobacter EQA3-AST) within the Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses Network (FWD-Net).
A pilot project was carried out to investigate the feasibility of HIVDR surveillance in EU/EEA countries and to make recommendations for the design and implementation of a potential future HIVDR surveillance system at the European level.
ECDC comment on the study 'Detection in the United Kingdom of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae FC428 clone, with ceftriaxone resistance and intermediate resistance to azithromycin, October to December 2018' by Eyre et al. in the Eurosurveillance edition of 7 March 2019.
Gonorrhoea is the second most commonly notified sexually transmitted infection across the EU/EEA countries with almost 500 000 reported cases between 2007 and 2016. The infection is treatable but Neisseria gonorrhoeae keep showing high levels of azithromycin resistance according to latest results of the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme.
The data on antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic and indicator bacteria in 2017, submitted by 28 EU Member States (MSs), were jointly analysed by EFSA and ECDC. Resistance in zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter from humans, animals and food, and resistance in indicator Escherichia coli as well as meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in animals and food were addressed, and temporal trends assessed.