This study estimates the burden of disease of the pandemic influenza A(H1N1)2009 virus in the Netherlands during the pandemic season and compares it to the overall burden of disease by calculating Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), a composite measure that combines incidence, sequelae and mortality associated with a disease, taking duration and severity into account.
The European network for arthropod vector surveillance for human public health (VBORNET), funded by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, holds its second annual general meeting at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, on 18-20 April 2011
This study establishes whether the immunisation with hexavalent vaccines increased the short term risk of sudden unexpected deaths (SUD) in infants in Italy, following the signal of an association between vaccination in the second year of life with a hexavalent vaccine and SUD in the two days following vaccination reported in Germany in 2003.
Current trends show both progress and challenges in fighting the spread of drug-resistant bacteria in Europe according to ECDC’s analysis on the state of antibiotic resistance in Europe. Since 2008, ECDC has been coordinating the European Antibiotic Awareness Day (EAAD) – a European health initiative that promotes prudent use of antibiotics. On the occasion of the World Health Day 2011, ECDC Director Marc Sprenger presented the ‘Situation update on antibiotic resistance’ to the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
In his speech today at the Informal Meeting of EU Ministers responsible for health, ECDC Director Marc Sprenger highlighted these challenges and encouraged countries to maintain investment in public health and to work toward smarter and better cooperation.
Today, the impact of vaccines on Public Health is at the centre of the discussions in the conference organised by the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) in Prague. This conference brought together experts to debate the many-sided correlations between vaccines, medicine and society at the dawn of the third millennium.
A four-fold increased incidence of narcolepsy in vaccinated children/adolescents compared to unvaccinated children was observed in this register-based cohort study.
From 1 April 2011, nearly six years after it became operational, ECDC changes its organisational structure. The reorganisation aims at a greater flexibility towards newly arising priorities and further strengthening the disease-specific work at ECDC.
ECDC has been honoured to receive the 2011 Anders Gustâv Minnesfond Award. The award of SEK 50 000 kr was received by ECDC Director Marc Sprenger in a ceremony at ECDC’s premises in Solna on 30 March.