An ECDC expert was in Zambia from 25 March to support in the response to the recent cholera outbreak as part of and funded by the ‘ECDC for Africa CDC’ project.
Recent ECDC data show that despite progress in prevention and control efforts, the hepatitis B and hepatitis C viruses (HBV and HCV) continue to pose significant public health challenges in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA).
Despite good access to effective antibiotics, Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci) is still a major cause of disease and death in both developing and developed countries. Pneumococci are the main cause of bacterial respiratory tract infections, such as pneumonia, middle ear infection, and sinusitis, in all age groups.
Prevalence data from sources such as population surveys can be a useful complement to case based surveillance data for hepatitis C. Case-based surveillance has limitations as most diagnosed cases are chronic in nature and detection of cases depends largely on testing practices. Prevalence data can therefore contribute towards a fuller understanding of the epidemiology of hepatitis C.
ECDC provides support to EU/EEA countries in monitoring their progress towards the hepatitis elimination targets and has just published a report based on the second data collection.