For 2019, 30 EU/EEA Member States reported 29 996 cases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Excluding the five countries that only reported acute cases, the number of cases, 29 518, corresponds to a crude rate of 7.4 cases per 100 000 population.
In order to monitor progress towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 2030 target to combat viral hepatitis, this report provides data on hepatitis B and C prevention, incidence, diagnosis, treatment, cure/viral suppression, and mortality in European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries with data collected in 2019.
This brief will present a snapshot of hepatitis B and C testing in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA), discussing progress made towards the European action plan 2020 testing target, focussing on key populations and settings for testing, barriers to testing, and testing policies.
For 2018, 63 cases of diphtheria were reported to ECDC; 62 due to toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae or C. ulcerans and one case with an unknown pathogen. The highest proportion of C. ulcerans cases was among adults 65 years and over, whereas C. diphtheriae cases were more common in younger age groups. Among the C. diphtheriae cases, 60% were reported as imported. High vaccination coverage is crucial to prevent diphtheria.