The joint annual influenza surveillance meeting by ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe took place on 6 - 8 June 2018 in Copenhagen, Denmark. Invited participants were epidemiological and virological surveillance experts nominated by national health authorities as well as representatives from international institutions, covering the 53 countries of the EU/EEA and the WHO European region. The meeting was by invitation only.
The ERLI-Net sub-network of reference laboratories of the European Influenza Surveillance Network carries out virological surveillance of human influenza in the EU/EEA through the EISN timely reporting mechanism and strengthening laboratory capacity for influenza virus detection, antiviral susceptibility testing and typing.
The main objectives of ERLI-Net are to carry out virological surveillance of human influenza and to ensure that data are shared through the European Influenza Surveillance Network (EISN) reporting mechanisms in a timely manner.
The ECDC annual meeting of the European Influenza Surveillance Network (EISN) prepared in collaboration with the EISN Coordination Committee, brought together epidemiological and virological surveillance contact points and representatives from reference laboratories from the 31 EU/EEA Member States as well as participants from EU pre-accession countries, Eastern European Neighbourhood Policy partner countries, the WHO Regional Office for Europe, and involved international institutions.
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 WHO Regional Office for Europe (WHO/Europe) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) were jointly organising the annual influenza surveillance meeting.
Location:Budapest, Hungary
Organized by:ECDC and the WHO Regional Office for Europe