The sixth edition of the Annual Epidemiological Report on communicable diseases in Europe provides a comprehensive summary of surveillance data for 2010 and an analysis of the public health threats detected in 2011 through ECDC’s routine epidemic intelligence.

Despite a reduction in the incidence of some of the diseases under surveillance, the data presented show that several problems remain. Among those of the most concern are antimicrobial resistance and healthcare-associated infections; sexually transmitted infections like HIV and chlamydia; and respiratory tract infections. The priorities for communicable disease prevention and control have therefore not changed substantially over recent years.