European Immunization Week (EIW) is marked across Europe every year in the final week of April. It aims to raise awareness of the importance of immunisation for the general health and well-being of the European and wider population.
In connection with the European Immunization Week, ECDC releases data indicating an increase in cases of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and pertussis, after decreased levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, 1 149 confirmed cases of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), including 110 deaths, were reported in 30 European Union/European Economic Area Member States.
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) the period 17-23 March 2024 and includes updates on SARS-CoV-2 variant classification, hepatitis A, pertussis, invasive Group A streptococcal infection, chikungunya, dengue, poliomyelitis, western equine encephalitis and cholera.
The food-borne infections listeriosis and shigatoxigenic Escherichia coli are increasing in the EU/EEA and were in 2022 at levels higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2022, 30 EU/EEA countries reported 4 548 cases of hepatitis A. The EU/EEA notification rate was one case per 100 000 population. Twenty EU/EEA countries had notification rates below one case per 100 000 population. The countries with the highest notification rates were Hungary (5.5), Croatia (5.3) Romania (4.8), and Bulgaria (4.4).
This issue of the ECDC Communicable Disease Threats Report (CDTR) covers the period 17-23 December 2023 and includes updates on cholera, SARS-CoV-2 variant classification, avian influenza in fur farms, hepatitis A, pertussis, a cluster of extensively drug-resistant Shigella Sonnei among men who have sex with men, and an overview of respiratory virus epidemiology in the EU/EE.
Meningococcal disease is caused by Neisseria meningitidis, a bacterium with human carriers as the only reservoir. It is carried in the nose, where it can remain for long periods without producing symptoms.