This document updates the 2009 ECDC guidance on chlamydia control in Europe. The aim of this guidance is to support Member States to develop, implement or improve strategies for chlamydia control.
This guidance, based on a systematic review of the literature and expert opinion, suggests that there is good evidence to ensure that some key components are considered for inclusion in national and sub-national public health programmes in countries in Europe.
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.
This document outlines the steps necessary to implement a comprehensive and effective control programme. It also offers advice on how to monitor and evaluate such programmes in order to ensure their effectiveness.