ECDC has published an Expert Opinion on rotavirus vaccination in infancy. The paper provides EU/EEA Member States with relevant scientific information on burden of rotavirus disease, vaccine effectiveness and safety, and cost-effectiveness studies to support the decision-making process on the possible introduction of routine vaccination of children against rotavirus gastroenteritis.
The final expert opinion on rotavirus vaccination in infancy aims to provide EU/EEA Member States with information to support the decision-making process on the possible introduction of rotavirus vaccination in infancy.
This report describes the occurrence of invasive bacterial diseases (IBD) in Europe during 2012, based on data collected through The European Surveillance System (TESSy).
This report presents the epidemiological situation for vaccine-preventable diseases – invasive bacterial diseases (invasive Haemophilus influenzae, meningococcal and pneumococcal disease) as of 2012 and describes the statistical and epidemiological methods used.
In May 2012 a collection of five strains of Haemophilus spp was sent to 28 participating reference laboratories in the IBD-labnet surveillance network for quality assurance testing. The laboratories were asked to characterise the five strains by performing standard laboratory protocols for the methods usually used by the laboratory for: species identification, biotyping and serotyping by serological methods and/or PCR.
The results of this EQA are published in the this report.
In Europe, routine rotavirus vaccination of infants at the national level has been introduced with one or two vaccine brands in Finland, Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium within well-baby clinics or administered by general practitioners and paediatricians. When introducing a new vaccine, it is crucial to conduct studies evaluating the vaccination’s impact and effectiveness in order to decide on recommendations for its future use.