ECDC reviewed the response plan and the 2019 update strives to further support EU Member States to develop and implement national strategies and interventions to control the threat of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant gonorrhoea in a multidisciplinary approach by outlining the suggested public health response to this threat with several vital components.
External quality assessment (EQA) is an essential part of any laboratory-based surveillance system, allowing for the monitoring of performance and comparability of results from participating laboratories, identification of potential issues, and deployment of resources and training where necessary.
A pilot project was carried out to investigate the feasibility of HIVDR surveillance in EU/EEA countries and to make recommendations for the design and implementation of a potential future HIVDR surveillance system at the European level.
ECDC comment on the study 'Detection in the United Kingdom of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae FC428 clone, with ceftriaxone resistance and intermediate resistance to azithromycin, October to December 2018' by Eyre et al. in the Eurosurveillance edition of 7 March 2019.
Gonorrhoea is the second most commonly notified sexually transmitted infection across the EU/EEA countries with almost 500 000 reported cases between 2007 and 2016. The infection is treatable but Neisseria gonorrhoeae keep showing high levels of azithromycin resistance according to latest results of the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme.
ECDC is looking to establish a scientific collaboration with an organisation which can perform whole genome sequencing (WGS) of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, carry out related data analyses, share results of the analyses with ECDC and the participants of the European Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme as well as visualise the results.