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).
Most reported malaria cases in EU were travel related. Five cases were reported as locally acquired: two in France and three in Spain. The latest data on reported cases in EU is available in the 2016 Annual epidemiological report.
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.
The online database of the ECDC HAI-Net point prevalence survey (PPS) of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use provides European reference data on HAIs and antimicrobial use in acute care hospitals in Europe. See the PPS reports on antimicrobial use by indication and specialty