This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 1-7 December 2013, and includes updates on influenza, MERS, pertussis and polio.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 3-9 November 2013, and includes updates on botulism, cholera, influenza, seasonal influenza, MERS, pertussis, polio and West Nile fever.
The ECDC communicable disease threats report is a weekly bulletin intended for epidemiologists and health professionals in the area of communicable disease prevention and control.
This letter to the editor raises the issue of the adaptation of B. pertussis to vaccine selection pressure as one of the reasons for the increase number of cases of whooping cough reported in several countries.
ECDC is addressing the harmonisation and improvement of pertussis diagnosis for surveillance and outbreak detection/monitoring in order to assure quality and comparability of data. The guidance and protocol are intended for real-time PCR on DNA extracted from clinical specimens obtained from patients with suspected whooping cough (i.e. Bordetella pertussis or B. parapertussis).