Rubella is a mild febrile rash illness caused by rubella virus. It is transmitted from person to person via droplets (the virus is present in throat secretions). It affects mainly, but not only, children and when pregnant women are infected, it may result in malformation of the foetus. Humans are the only reservoir of infection.
This document is an update of the joint guidance that was published in 2011 by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA).
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Europe. High-quality laboratory diagnosis of TB is the basis for both individual patient treatment and surveillance.
For 2021, the 30 countries in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) reported a total of 33 527 tuberculosis (TB) cases (7.4 per 100 000 population).
Prevalence data from sources such as population surveys can be a useful complement to case based surveillance data for hepatitis B. Case-based surveillance has limitations as most diagnosed cases are chronic in nature and detection of cases depends largely on testing practices. Prevalence data can therefore contribute towards a fuller understanding of the epidemiology of hepatitis B.