ECDC and WHO launch new surveillance tool for respiratory viruses to improve early detection
ECDC and World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe have jointly developed the European Respiratory Virus Surveillance Summary (ERVISS), an interactive surveillance data dashboard for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that also features a weekly epidemiological summary. The primary aim of the platform is to serve as a tool for the early detection and communication of signals of respiratory virus circulation in the EU/EEA and WHO European region.
By providing a concise summary of the epidemiological and virological situation for respiratory virus infections, ERVISS supports public health decision-makers to take timely, well-informed decisions to limit the impact on healthcare systems and the wider public. Where available, ERVISS also presents laboratory testing and virus characterisation data for circulating pathogens, such as determining virus type/subtype/strain, susceptibility to antivirals and similarity to available vaccines.
SARS-CoV-2 demonstrated that novel respiratory pathogens with pandemic potential may emerge at any time, and the co-circulation of respiratory viruses can put heavy pressure on healthcare systems.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, surveillance activities for respiratory infections in the EU/EEA largely centred around the monitoring of influenza virus circulation. However, the pandemic led to many countries either expanding their existing respiratory infection surveillance systems, or developing new ones.
Over the past year, there has been a concerted effort to transition from unsustainable mass testing approaches applied during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, to an integrated respiratory virus surveillance approach capable of monitoring multiple pathogens. The aim has been to leverage some of the improvements to surveillance systems at country level, and to develop a standard approach to jointly monitor influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2, as these viruses are expected to co-circulate in the coming years.
In July 2022, ECDC and WHO respiratory virus surveillance teams jointly published operational guidance to support countries with this transition. Within the EU/EEA and European region, countries have been asked to strengthen ‘syndromic surveillance’ of patients presenting with respiratory symptoms to primary and secondary care, reporting information from representative sites on a weekly basis. Amongst those that present with symptoms at such sites, WHO and ECDC request that testing be carried out for a range of respiratory viruses, including influenza, RSV and SARS-CoV-2. This is the information that is now captured and presented in ERVISS.
Facts
- Influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are known to cause severe illness, particularly during winter months, and especially among infants, very young children, older people, and individuals with underlying conditions. Circulation of these viruses result in a significant burden on healthcare systems.
- No clear seasonal pattern has been established for SARS-CoV-2, with year-round transmission occurring in all EU/EEA countries, driven by new variants. Although vaccination has been extremely effective in limiting severe outcomes from COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 continues to impact people of all ages, with older people and those with underlying conditions remaining at higher risk of severe outcomes, if infected. In the last winter season, although SARS-CoV-2 circulated at much lower rates than in the previous two years, its impact was heightened by the co-circulation of influenza and RSV, resulting in healthcare services being put under heavy pressure.
