In May 2013, Israel announced the detection of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in the south of the country (1). As reported until mid-August, during the routine monitoring of sewage samples the virus had been found in 67 sewage samples from 24 sampling sites since February 2013.
The study compares the incidence and serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) for pneumococcal meningitis and non-meningitis IPD in children from 2007 to 2010 with reference to the pre-vaccination period from 1997 to 2001 in Germany.
The authors present an appraisal of the pneumococcal epidemiological situation in 11 Central European countries. Data are based on study findings presented at the 12th Central European Vaccine Advisory Group (CEVAG) meeting, held on 21–22 May 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria, and a literature review of the PubMed database.
ECDC Director Marc Sprenger at the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) stressed the importance of the EU’s continuous commitment in the fight against hepatitis B and hepatitis C.
The heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) targets seven of the more than 92 pneumococcal serotypes. Concerns have been raised that non-vaccine serotypes (NVTs) could increase in prevalence and reduce the benefits of vaccination. Indeed, among asymptomatic carriers, the prevalence of NVTs has increased substantially, and consequently, there has been little or no net change in the bacterial carriage prevalence.
The first annual meeting of the European hepatitis B and C surveillance network takes place on 23-24 March 2011. Since 2009, ECDC has worked on preparing the enhanced surveillance of hepatitis B and C at EU/EEA level by establishing a network for hepatitis B and C surveillance and by carrying out a survey on prevention and surveillance activities in the Member States.