6 research outputs found
Determinants of fatal outcome in patients admitted to intensive care units with influenza, European Union 2009â2017
Free PMC article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmid/32258201/Background: Morbidity, severity, and mortality associated with annual influenza epidemics are of public health concern. We analyzed surveillance data on hospitalized laboratory-confirmed influenza cases admitted to intensive care units to identify common determinants for fatal outcome and inform and target public health prevention strategies, including risk communication.
Methods: We performed a descriptive analysis and used Poisson regression models with robust variance to estimate the association of age, sex, virus (sub)type, and underlying medical condition with fatal outcome using European Union data from 2009 to 2017.
Results: Of 13 368 cases included in the basic dataset, 2806 (21%) were fatal. Age â„40 years and infection with influenza A virus were associated with fatal outcome. Of 5886 cases with known underlying medical conditions and virus A subtype included in a more detailed analysis, 1349 (23%) were fatal. Influenza virus A(H1N1)pdm09 or A(H3N2) infection, age â„60 years, cancer, human immunodeficiency virus infection and/or other immune deficiency, and heart, kidney, and liver disease were associated with fatal outcome; the risk of death was lower for patients with chronic lung disease and for pregnant women.
Conclusions: This study re-emphasises the importance of preventing influenza in the elderly and tailoring strategies to risk groups with underlying medical conditions.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Immunisation of migrants in EU/EEA countries: Policies and practices
In recent years various EU/EEA countries have experienced an influx of migrants from low and middle-income countries. In 2018, the âVaccine European New Integrated Collaboration Effort (VENICE)â survey group conducted a survey among 30 EU/EEA countries to investigate immunisation policies and practices targeting irregular migrants, refugees and asylum seekers (later called âmigrantsâ in this report). Twenty-nine countries participated in the survey. Twenty-eight countries reported having national policies targeting children/adolescent and adult migrants, however vaccinations offered to adult migrants are limited to specific conditions in seven countries. All the vaccinations included in the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) are offered to children/adolescents in 27/28 countries and to adults in 13/28 countries. In the 15 countries offering only certain vaccinations to adults, priority is given to diphtheria-tetanus, measles-mumps-rubella and polio vaccinations. Information about the vaccines given to child/adolescent migrants is recorded in 22 countries and to adult migrants in 19 countries with a large variation in recording methods found across countries. Individual and aggregated data are reportedly not shared with other centres/institutions in 13 and 15 countries, respectively. Twenty countries reported not collecting data on vaccination uptake among migrants; only three countries have these data at the national level. Procedures to guarantee migrantsâ access to vaccinations at the community level are available in 13 countries. In conclusion, although diversified, strategies for migrant vaccination are in place in all countries except for one, and the strategies are generally in line with international recommendations. Efforts are needed to strengthen partnerships and implement initiatives across countries of origin, transit and destination to develop and better share documentation in order to guarantee a completion of vaccination series and to avoid unnecessary re-vaccination. Development of migrant-friendly strategies to facilitate migrants' access to vaccination and collection of vaccination uptake data among migrants is needed to meet existing gaps
Retrospective Analysis of Six Years of Acute Flaccid Paralysis Surveillance and Polio Vaccine Coverage Reported by Italy, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia, Malta, and Greece
Here we analyzed six years of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance, from 2015 to 2020, of 10 countries linked to the WHO Regional Reference Laboratory, at the Istituto Superiore di SanitĂ , Italy. The analysis also comprises the polio vaccine coverage available (2015â2019) and enterovirus (EV) identification and typing data. Centralized Information System for Infectious Diseases and Laboratory Data Management System databases were used to obtain data on AFP indicators and laboratory performance and countriesâ vaccine coverage from 2015 to 2019. EV isolation, identification, and typing were performed by each country according to WHO protocols. Overall, a general AFP underreporting was observed. Non-Polio Enterovirus (NPEV) typing showed a high heterogeneity: over the years, several genotypes of coxsackievirus and echovirus have been identified. The polio vaccine coverage, for the data available, differs among countries. This evaluation allows for the collection, for the first time, of data from the countries of the Balkan area regarding AFP surveillance and polio vaccine coverage. The need, for some countries, to enhance the surveillance systems and to promote the polio vaccine uptake, in order to maintain the polio-free status, is evident
Immunisation of migrants in EWEEA countries: Policies and practices
In recent years various EU/EEA countries have experienced an influx of
migrants from low and middle income countries. In 2018, the âVaccine
European New Integrated Collaboration Effort (VENICE)â survey group
conducted a survey among 30 EU/EEA countries to investigate immunisation
policies and practices targeting irregular migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers (later called âmigrantsâ in this report). Twenty-nine
countries participated in the survey. Twenty-eight countries reported
having national policies targeting children/adolescent and adult
migrants, however vaccinations offered to adult migrants are limited to
specific conditions in seven countries. All the vaccinations included in
the National Immunisation Programme (NIP) are offered to
children/adolescents in 27/28 countries and to adults in 13/28
countries. In the 15 countries offering only certain vaccinations to
adults, priority is given to diphtheria-tetanus, measles-mumps-rubella
and polio vaccinations. Information about the vaccines given to
child/adolescent migrants is recorded in 22 countries and to adult
migrants in 19 countries with a large variation in recording methods
found across countries. Individual and aggregated data are reportedly
not shared with other centres/institutions in 13 and 15 countries,
respectively. Twenty countries reported not collecting data on
vaccination uptake among migrants; only three countries have these data
at the national level. Procedures to guarantee migrantsâ access to
vaccinations at the community level are available in 13 countries. In
conclusion, although diversified, strategies for migrant vaccination are
in place in all countries except for one, and the strategies are
generally in line with international recommendations. Efforts are needed
to strengthen partnerships and implement initiatives across countries of
origin, transit and destination to develop and better share
documentation in order to guarantee a completion of vaccination series
and to avoid unnecessary re-vaccination. Development of migrant-friendly
strategies to facilitate migrantsâ access to vaccination and collection
of vaccination uptake data among migrants is needed to meet existing
gaps. (C) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd