The authors present data on 15 individuals infected by Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) -producing strains of Staphylococcus aureus. Intra-familial spread was documented in one case, and occupational transmission was most likely in another case. spa typing of the strains revealed a broad range of variants, though some strains were clonally related. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was found in three cases.
On the occasion of World Hand Hygiene Day, 5th May, ECDC is releasing new web pages dedicated to the Healthcare-associated Infections Surveillance Network (HAI-Net) – a European network for HAI surveillance, coordinated by ECDC.
The authors retrospectively analyzed hepatitis A virus (HAV) seroprevalence in travellers who had been born and lived at least 1 year in a developing country, wanted to travel to a hepatitis A endemic area, and consulted at the vaccination centre of the Institut Pasteur of Paris between September 1, 2008 and February 28, 2010. HAV seroprevalence was 82.4 % for a population of 646 immigrants for whom data were available
This will be the first joint meeting of the EARS-Net and HAI-Net Coordination groups. The meeting will address epidemiological, microbiological and technical aspects related to surveillance and reporting of antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections.
The meeting will take place on 21-22 June 2010 in Udine, Italy. It is held under the outsourced ECDC project “Infection control training needs assessment in the European Union” (contract awarded to University of Udine, Italy), which aims to produce a report on the assessment of infection control training needs, and proposal for future ECDC support to infection control training.