Determinants of fatal outcome in patients admitted to intensive care units with influenza, European Union 2009–2017

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 ≥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 ≥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

Geographical and temporal distribution of SARS-CoV-2 clades in the WHO European Region, January to June 2020

We show the distribution of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) genetic clades over time and between countries and outline potential genomic surveillance objectives. We applied three genomic nomenclature systems to all sequence data from the World Health Organization European Region available until 10 July 2020. We highlight the importance of real-time sequencing and data dissemination in a pandemic situation, compare the nomenclatures and lay a foundation for future European genomic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2

Seasonal and inter-seasonal RSV activity in the European Region during the COVID-19 pandemic from autumn 2020 to summer 2022

© 2023 The Authors. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.Background: The emergence of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in early 2020 and subsequent implementation of public health and social measures (PHSM) disrupted the epidemiology of respiratory viruses. This work describes the epidemiology of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) observed during two winter seasons (weeks 40–20) and inter-seasonal periods (weeks 21–39) during the pandemic between October 2020 and September 2022. Methods: Using data submitted to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) by countries or territories in the World Health Organization (WHO) European Region between weeks 40/2020 and 39/2022, we aggregated country-specific weekly RSV counts of sentinel, non-sentinel and Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) surveillance specimens and calculated percentage positivity. Results for both 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons and inter-seasons were compared with pre-pandemic 2016/17 to 2019/20 seasons and inter-seasons. Results: Although more specimens were tested than in pre-COVID-19 pandemic seasons, very few RSV detections were reported during the 2020/21 season in all surveillance systems. During the 2021 inter-season, a gradual increase in detections was observed in all systems. In 2021/22, all systems saw early peaks of RSV infection, and during the 2022 inter-seasonal period, patterns of detections were closer to those seen before the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: RSV surveillance continued throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, with an initial reduction in transmission, followed by very high and out-of-season RSV circulation (summer 2021) and then an early start of the 2021/22 season. As of the 2022/23 season, RSV circulation had not yet normalised.Peer reviewe

Measles outbreak in a Roma community in the Eastern region of Slovakia, May to October 2018

Despite the effective National Immunization Programme of Slovakia, some population groups are incompletely vaccinated or unvaccinated. We aimed to describe the measles outbreak spread in Eastern Slovakia between May and October 2018, affecting the Roma communities in relation to the existing immunity gaps

Systematic Genomic Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 Virus on Illumina Sequencing Platforms in the Slovak Republic—One Year Experience

To explore a genomic pool of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) during the pandemic, the Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic formed a genomics surveillance workgroup, and the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic launched a systematic national epidemiological surveillance using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Six out of seven genomic centers implementing Illumina sequencing technology were involved in the national SARS-CoV-2 virus sequencing program. Here we analyze a total of 33,024 SARS-CoV-2 isolates collected from the Slovak population from 1 March 2021, to 31 March 2022, that were sequenced and analyzed in a consistent manner. Overall, 28,005 out of 30,793 successfully sequenced samples met the criteria to be deposited in the global GISAID database. During this period, we identified four variants of concern (VOC)—Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529). In detail, we observed 165 lineages in our dataset, with dominating Alpha, Delta and Omicron in three major consecutive incidence waves. This study aims to describe the results of a routine but high-level SARS-CoV-2 genomic surveillance program. Our study of SARS-CoV-2 genomes in collaboration with the Public Health Authority of the Slovak Republic also helped to inform the public about the epidemiological situation during the pandemic

Impact of the COVID‐19 Pandemic on Influenza Circulation During the 2020/21 and 2021/22 Seasons, in Europe

Background: The emergence of SARS‐CoV‐2 in late 2019 saw the implementation of public health and social measures (PHSM) by countries across Europe to reduce its transmission and impact on populations. Consequently, countries reported changes in influenza circulation and extensive disruptions to routine surveillance systems.MethodsWe describe the epidemiology of influenza in Europe between Weeks 40/2020 and 39/2022 compared to the 2016/17 to 2019/20 seasons, to assess the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic and PHSM on surveillance systems and influenza circulation.ResultsLow detections of influenza were observed through primary care sentinel sources during seasonal influenza periods (Week 40 to 20); 56 (of 39,457 specimens tested; < 1% positivity) in 2020/21 and 7261 (of 64,153 specimens tested; 11% positivity) detections in 2021/22 were observed, compared to an average of 18,383 (of 50,544 specimens tested; 36% positivity) detections in 2016/17 to 2019/20. Similarly, 11 (of 19,989 specimens tested; < 1% positivity) and 1488 (of 23,636 specimens tested; 6% positivity) detections were reported through SARI surveillance sources in 2020/21 and 2021/22, respectively, compared to an average of 2850 (of 10,389 specimens tested; 27% positivity) detections in 2016/17 to 2019/20. However, the 2021/22 interseasonal period saw unusual increases in influenza detections across surveillance site types when PHSM were easing.ConclusionIn conclusion, findings suggest that the restriction and easing of PHSM measures were associated with variations in influenza detections. Our observations of out‐of‐season influenza activity highlight the importance of an integrated respiratory surveillance strategy to monitor circulating respiratory viruses throughout the year to inform optimal prevention and control strategies.Data Availability Statement TESSy data are available upon request ([https://www.ecdc.europa.eu/ en/publications-data/european-surveillance-system-tessy])