In recent years human diseases due to mosquito-borne viruses were increasingly reported in Emilia-Romagna region (Italy), from the chikungunya virus in 2007 to the West Nile virus (WNV) in 2008. An extensive entomological survey was performed in 2009 to establish the presence and distribution of mosquito arboviruses in this region, with particular reference to flaviviruses.
Using surveillance data obtained from 21,888 imported Plasmodium falciparum cases in France during 1996-2003, factors independently associated with severe malaria (832 cases; ≈3.8%) were older age, European origin, travel to eastern Africa, absence of chemoprophylaxis, initial visit to a general practitioner, time to diagnosis of 4 to 12 days, and diagnosis during the fall-winter season.
This study describes the outcome of 25 travellers with severe malaria who returned from malaria-endemic regions and were treated at 7 centres in Europe with intravenous artesunate. Among these 25 patients, one child and 24 adults (mean ± SD age 44.1 ± 16.1 years), 10 patients received the dosing regimen for artesunate initially recommended by WHO and 11 received artesunate, 2.4 mg/kg/dose.
The authors analyzed data from hospital admissions and enhanced mumps surveillance to assess mumps complications during the largest mumps outbreak in England and Wales, 2004–2005, and their association with mumps vaccination. When compared with non-outbreak periods, the outbreak was associated with a clear increase in hospitalized patients with orchitis, meningitis and pancreatitis. Routine mumps surveillance and hospital data showed that 6.1% of mumps patients were hospitalized, 4.4% had orchitis, 0.35% meningitis and 0.33% pancreatitis.
This paper describes a small retrospective observational study of Israeli travellers presenting to a tropical medicine clinic with a history of prolonged (4 weeks), non-traumatic arthralgia or arthritis over a 5 year period.
The first annual meeting of the European hepatitis B and C surveillance network takes place on 23-24 March 2011. Since 2009, ECDC has worked on preparing the enhanced surveillance of hepatitis B and C at EU/EEA level by establishing a network for hepatitis B and C surveillance and by carrying out a survey on prevention and surveillance activities in the Member States.
This descriptive study, based on national surveillance data of reported malaria cases, travelers’ statistics and data on malaria chemoprophylaxis prescriptions, estimates the incidence and trends of imported malaria in the Netherlands.
This paper describes the results of an open-label randomized trial, comparing the use of artesunate and quinine for the treatment of severe Plasmodium falciparum malaria in children in 11 African countries.
The appearance of West Nile virus in New York in 1999 and the unprecedented panzootic that followed, have stimulated a major research effort in the western hemisphere and a new interest in the presence of this virus in the Old World. This review considers current understanding of the natural history of this pathogen, with particular regard to transmission in Europe.