The ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) is a weekly bulletin for epidemiologists and health professionals on active public health threats. This issue covers the period from 24-30 March 2019 and includes updates on Ebola virus disease and influenza.

This report summarises the results from two epidemiological studies to investigate a possible association between an unexpected increase in narcolepsy cases following the use of the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccines. The studies were conducted by the Vaccine Adverse Event Surveillance and Communication (VAESCO) Consortium under the auspices of ECDC and undertaken in Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. This Technical Report In Brief accompanies the full Report ‘Narcolepsy in association with pandemic influenza vaccination- A multi-country European epidemiological investigation’.

​During week 45/2013: All 27 reporting countries experienced low intensity influenza activity.

This report summarises the results from two epidemiological studies conducted by the Vaccine Adverse Event Surveillance and Communication (VAESCO) Consortium undertaken in eight European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries in order to investigate a possible association between an unexpected increase in narcolepsy cases following the use of influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccines. Narcolepsy is an underdiagnosed disease of widely unknown etiology.

This report which is part of the RAGIDA project (Risk Assessment Guidance for Infectious Diseases transmitted on Aircraft) provides viable options for decision-makers when faced with the choice of whether to contact trace air travellers and crew that were potentially exposed to infectious diseases during a flight.

This guide is intended for use by those involved in pandemic preparedness planning, generic preparedness and implementation of IHR core capacities in European countries. The document describes good practice for pandemic preparedness planning based on lessons learned from the 2009 pandemic.

During the 2013–14 season, A(H1N1)pdm09, A(H3N2), B/Victoria- and B/Yamagata-lineage influenza viruses have continued to co-circulate in EU/EEA Member States.

Likely scenarios and uncertainties in the 2010/2011 influenza season in Europe and beyond.

The 2010/11 seasonal influenza epidemics in Europe are dominated so far by the A(H1N1)2009 viruses which emerged in the 2009 pandemic, although these are now considered seasonal viruses. This is an interim risk assessment and will be up-dated at intervals as more data and analyses emerge.

This publication presents the core European protocol for a series of proposed influenza vaccine effectiveness studies. The protocol includes a proposed plan for pooled analysis and has recently been adapted to measure vaccine effectiveness for the pandemic vaccine in 2009-10. Together with its twin publication ‘Protocols for cohort database studies to measure influenza vaccine effectiveness in the EU and EEA Member States’, this publication covers all methodological issues in the design and implementation of vaccine effectiveness studies, both for seasonal and the new A(H1N1)v influenza.