Childhood immunisation against S. pneumoniae is the most effective public health measure for preventing IPD both among vaccine recipients (direct effect), and among unimmunised populations (indirect ‘herd’ effect).
2014, the topic of the conference was HIV and Viral Hepatitis: Challenges of Timely Testing and Care, and the main objectives were to provide the fields of HIV and viral hepatitis with the opportunity to learn from each other and to reflect on their experiences.
The aims of the meeting were to enable sharing of experiences and good practices between member states, review ECDC’s current programme of work and to help determine future priorities for surveillance, prevention and control of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) across Europe.
ECDC promotes the performance of external quality assessment (EQA) schemes, in which laboratories are sent simulated clinical specimens or bacterial isolates for testing by routine or reference laboratory methods. EQA schemes, or laboratory proficiency testing, provide information about the accuracy of different characterisation and typing methods as well as antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) and the sensitivity of the methods in place to detect a certain pathogen or novel resistance patterns.
From 18 to 25 November 2016, almost 500 organisations all across Europe are hosting activities to increase awareness of the benefits of HIV and hepatitis testing.
ECDC encourages adoption of EU and ISO quality standards for diagnostic and reference laboratory services by its partners in EU laboratory networks and in line with national arrangements and regulations.