2014, the focus of World Health day was on vector-borne diseases. World Health Day is a worldwide initiative celebrated every year on 7 April to mark the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948.
The Hellenic Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (KEELPNO) has reported three autochthonous cases of Plasmodium vivax malaria up to 16 November 2013.
Pieter Smit is a microbiologist by training, with a specialisation in international public health. He completed his PhD at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine before joining the EUPHEM programme.
The study design and analysis controlled for influence of potentially confounding trends, such as improvement of day-care carriage and decreasing prevalence of smoking during the study period.
ECDC publishes today a report surveying the prevalence of Tick Borne Encephalitis (TBE) in Europe. The report has epidemiological data from 2000 to 2010 for 20 out of 30 EU/EFTA countries. The data shows that a number of key risk areas can be found in Europe in terms of geographic spread, seasonal peaks and at-risk age groups. Most countries in Europe have surveillance systems although some vary which greatly impedes comparability and analysis of TBE.
On 5 September 2012 the European Commission decision amending Decision 2000/96/EC as regards tick-borne encephalitis was published. As a result tick-borne encephalitis is added to the list of diseases to be covered by epidemiological surveillance within the Community.
On 22 June 2012 the Hellenic Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (KEELPNO) reported the first locally acquired case of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax) malaria, from Marathon area in Attica region, Greece. As of 3 September, KEELPNO has reported 50 cases of malaria since the beginning of 2012 in Greece.
The study compares the incidence and serotype distribution of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) for pneumococcal meningitis and non-meningitis IPD in children from 2007 to 2010 with reference to the pre-vaccination period from 1997 to 2001 in Germany.
A second case of local Plasmodium vivax malaria in Greece was reported on 17 July by KEELPNO, the Hellenic Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. The case concerned a 48 year old female resident of the municipality of Evrotas, Lakonia.