Communicable diseases and vaccinations

A study conducted by VIRGIL network suggests Tamiflu resistance in some of the A (H1N1) viruses circulating in Europe.
The EU-funded VIRGIL network and National Influenza Centres have tested 1497 samples of the A (H1N1) flu virus strain between November 2007 and January 2008 in 18 European countries.
Preliminary results from surveillance of antiviral drug susceptibility among seasonal influenza viruses circulating in Europe show that some of the A (H1N1) viruses are resistant to the (...)

Antibiotic resistance contributes towards the emergence of a new deadly strain of the superbug MRSA which can lead to a flesh-eating form of pneumonia.
So far only two cases of the new form of the USA300 strain of the bug have been recorded in the UK.
The new strain is resistant to treatment by many front-line antibiotics. It causes large boils on the skin, and in severe cases can lead to fatal blood poisoning or necrotising pneumonia, which eats away at the lungs.
MRSA evolution
The (...)

A pilot study undertaken by the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) for the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) sheds light on the burden of infectious diseases in Europe.
The pilot study was designed to test the potential use of the disease burden concept in the field of infectious diseases, including data quality and availability.
The disease burden of seven infectious diseases (influenza, measles, HIV, campylobacteriosis, infection (...)

**Latest Update 21/01/2008.** It aims to focus on developments at international level.
Animal Avian Influenza is now in Europe - Increase of HUMAN cases in Indonesia
Poultry in Turkey and Romania have been hit by cases of Avian Influenza. Croatia also confirms a case of H5N1 in wild birds. Hence the decision from the European Commission to suspend imports of birds, feathers, poultry meat and avian species from Romania and Turkey. Both countries have quarantined the affected zones and (...)

2007 has seen several international developments to spur Europe into action on tackling TB. The challenge for 2008 will be to retain this momentum and translate it into policy action.

World AIDS Day was celebrated on 1 December 2007 to remember the victims of the most terrific virus epidemics ever recorded. To date, 25 million people are died throughout the world and 33.2 million are living with HIV/AIDS. After exploring the activities undertaken by Health Commissioner Marcos Kyprianou at the European level, this article will highlight the campaigns undertaken by the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG), an EPHA member, in relation to the event.
Health Commissioner (...)

After the H5N1 was detected in the Czech Republic on 21 June 2007, as of the 4 July 2007, it has been confirmed that the virus is in Germany as well as in France. At the same time an other case has been suspected in Austria.
In the Czech Republic the virus was detected following the death of around 1800 birds on two poultry farms in the centre of the country.
In Germany, the disease was confirmed to be in Thuringia, near Saxony, in a black-necked grebe, after a case, two weeks previous, (...)

Italian Health authorities have reported a total of 101 confirmed cases result of the outbreak of chikungunya fever, propagated by mosquito bites in the North-East of Italy on Summer 2007. Since 4 July 2007, over 250 cases have been reported, of which 133 are suspected cases waiting for laboratory confirmation.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO), has led a team of public health experts who visited the (...)

Despite being a preventable and curable disease, in 2005, 65,700 people died from Tuberculosis in the European Region. Moreover, levels of multiple drug-resistant TB in Europe are among the worst in the world and there is a growing problem of HIV/TB co-infection.

WHO guidance on insecticide-treated mosquito nets is changed to recommend that they be universally distributed free of charge.
WHO recommends universal free insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect against malaria.
On 16 August 2007 the World Health Organization (WHO) issued new global guidance for the use of insecticide-treated mosquito nets to protect people from malaria following successful trials in Kenya. For the first time, WHO recommends that insecticidal nets be long-lasting, (...)