Marked increase in cryptosporidiosis cases, Spain, 2023.

BackgroundBy mid-September 2023, several event notifications related to cryptosporidiosis had been identified from different regions in Spain. Therefore, a request for urgent notification of cryptosporidiosis cases to the National Surveillance Network was launched.AimWe aimed at assessing the extent of the increase in cases, the epidemiological characteristics and the transmission modes and compared to previous years.

A large multi-country outbreak of monkeypox across 41 countries in the WHO European Region, 7 March to 23 August 2022.

Following the report of a non-travel-associated cluster of monkeypox cases by the United Kingdom in May 2022, 41 countries across the WHO European Region have reported 21,098 cases and two deaths by 23 August 2022. Nowcasting suggests a plateauing in case notifications. Most cases (97%) are MSM, with atypical rash-illness presentation.

Epidemiologic Features and Control Measures during Monkeypox Outbreak, Spain, June 2022.

During June 2022, Spain was one of the countries most affected worldwide by a multicountry monkeypox outbreak with chains of transmission without identified links to disease-endemic countries. We provide epidemiologic features of cases reported in Spain and the coordinated measures taken to respond to this outbreak.

Risk Factors for Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacteria Carriage upon Admission to the Intensive Care Unit.

Multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB) are microorganisms that have acquired resistance to extended-spectrum antibacterials and constitute an emerging threat to public health. Although carriers are an important source of transmission in healthcare settings, data about risk factors for MDR-GNB carriage are limited. Therefore, we aimed to identify risk factors for MDR-GNB carriage upon intensive care unit (ICU) admission and to optimise screening strategies.

An imported case of vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2, Spain in the context of the ongoing polio Public Health Emergency of International Concern, September 2021.

The monthly retrospective search for unreported acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) cases conducted as a complementary component of the Spanish AFP surveillance system identified a case of AFP in a child admitted in Spain from Senegal during August 2021. Vaccine-derived poliovirus 2 was identified in the stool in September 2021. We present public health implications and response undertaken within the framework of the National Action Plan for Polio Eradication and the Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

[COVID-19 outbreaks in occupational settings in Spain, one year of follow-up (June 2020-June 2021).].

COVID-19 outbreak surveillance in Spain was established with the main objective of characterizing outbreaks and the settings in which they occurred, in order to identify those population groups at highest risk to support them with the implementation of preventive and control measures. Between June 2020 and June 2021, 55,824 outbreaks were reported, with 414,882 cases in all settings. About 12.

[Patient safety: Patients perception at primary care level at an urban healthcare district].

Objectives: Patient safety is a quality objective and a priority in healthcare. Most of the research has focused on the hospital setting and from the professional perspective. The objective of our study is to know the opinion of the patient who attends primary care regarding its safety in this area.

[Discussion groups as an approach to assess knowledge, attitudes and practices of hand hygiene among the adult intensive care unit professionals from a referral hospital].

Objectives: The adherence to hand hygiene practices among the adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) professionals in this hospital has not improved substantially in the last years, regardless of the theoretical training sessions conducted. A study was made of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of the ICU personnel in this field.

Methods: Several small discussion groups with ICU staff organised by preventive medicine professionals were scheduled in March 2018.

Campylobacter infections expected to increase due to climate change in Northern Europe.

Global climate change is predicted to alter precipitation and temperature patterns across the world, affecting a range of infectious diseases and particularly foodborne infections such as Campylobacter. In this study, we used national surveillance data to analyse the relationship between climate and campylobacteriosis in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden and estimate the impact of climate changes on future disease patterns. We show that Campylobacter incidences are linked to increases in temperature and especially precipitation in the week before illness, suggesting a non-food transmission route.

[Economic evaluation of the introduction of 4CMenB (Bexsero®) in the national vaccine schedule in Spain].

Introduction: Bexsero® (4CMenB), meningococcal B vaccine, was licensed in Europe in 2013. In Spain, despite MenB being the most frequent cause of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD), Bexsero® is recommended and financed for patients at increased risk of IMD but is not financed by the NHS in the routine vaccination schedule.

Objective: to evaluate the cost-utility, epidemiological impact, and total costs of the introduction of 4CMenB into the vaccination schedule to help inform vaccine policy in Spain.

Campylobacteriosis in the Nordic countries from 2000 to 2015: Trends in time and space.

This study aimed to describe the demographic and geographic patterns of campylobacteriosis in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during 2000-2015. All infections notified to national authorities in the four countries during the study period were included. Background data for each notification consisted of patient age, sex, geographical location, presumed origin of infection and date of sample taken or date of sample received in the laboratory.

Association between heavy precipitation events and waterborne outbreaks in four Nordic countries, 1992-2012.

We conducted a matched case-control study to examine the association between heavy precipitation events and waterborne outbreaks (WBOs) by linking epidemiological registries and meteorological data between 1992 and 2012 in four Nordic countries. Heavy precipitation events were defined by above average (exceedance) daily rainfall during the preceding weeks using local references. We performed conditional logistic regression using the four previous years as the controls.

National outbreak of Yersinia enterocolitica infections in military and civilian populations associated with consumption of mixed salad, Norway, 2014.

In May 2014, a cluster of Yersinia enterocolitica (YE) O9 infections was reported from a military base in northern Norway. Concurrently, an increase in YE infections in civilians was observed in the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases. We investigated to ascertain the extent of the outbreak and identify the source in order to implement control measures.

[Waterborne outbreaks in Norway 2003-2012].

Background: We describe the status of waterborne outbreaks notified in Norway and discuss this in the context of outbreaks recorded in previous years, to gain a better understanding of their development in Norway in recent years.

Material And Method: We have collected information on all outbreaks notified to the Norwegian Institute of Public Health via the surveillance system for communicable diseases in the ten-year period from 2003-2012 for which drinking water was given as the suspected cause.

Results: Altogether 28 waterborne outbreaks with a total of 8,060 persons reported as ill were notified in the period.

Importance of molecular typing in confirmation of the source of a national hepatitis A virus outbreak in Norway and the detection of a related cluster in Germany.

In March 2014, after an increase of notifications of domestically acquired hepatitis A virus infections, an outbreak investigation was launched in Norway. Sequenced-based typing results showed that these cases were associated with a strain that was identical to one causing an ongoing multinational outbreak in Europe linked to frozen mixed berries. Thirty-three confirmed cases with the outbreak strain were notified in Norway from November 2013 to June 2014.

Large and prolonged food-borne multistate hepatitis A outbreak in Europe associated with consumption of frozen berries, 2013 to 2014.

In May 2013, Italy declared a national outbreak of hepatitis A, which also affected several foreign tourists who had recently visited the country. Molecular investigations identified some cases as infected with an identical strain of hepatitis A virus subgenotype IA. After additional European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries reported locally acquired and travel-related cases associated with the same outbreak, an international outbreak investigation team was convened, a European outbreak case definition was issued and harmonisation of the national epidemiological and microbiological investigations was encouraged.

Waterborne outbreaks in the Nordic countries, 1998 to 2012.

A total of 175 waterborne outbreaks affecting 85,995 individuals were notified to the national outbreak surveillance systems in Denmark, Finland and Norway from 1998 to 2012, and in Sweden from 1998 to 2011. Between 4 and 18 outbreaks were reported each year during this period. Outbreaks occurred throughout the countries in all seasons, but were most common (n = 75/169, 44%) between June and August.

The national web-based outbreak rapid alert system in Norway: eight years of experience, 2006-2013.

In 2005, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health established a web-based outbreak rapid alert system called Vesuv. The system is used for mandatory outbreak alerts from municipal medical officers, healthcare institutions, and food safety authorities. As of 2013, 1426 outbreaks have been reported, involving 32913 cases.

Analytical studies assessing the association between extreme precipitation or temperature and drinking water-related waterborne infections: a review.

Determining the role of weather in waterborne infections is a priority public health research issue as climate change is predicted to increase the frequency of extreme precipitation and temperature events. To document the current knowledge on this topic, we performed a literature review of analytical research studies that have combined epidemiological and meteorological data in order to analyze associations between extreme precipitation or temperature and waterborne disease.A search of the databases Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS and Web of Science was conducted, using search terms related to waterborne infections and precipitation or temperature.

Description of the largest cluster of tuberculosis notified in Norway 1997-2011: is the Norwegian tuberculosis control programme serving its purpose for high risk groups?

Background: Approximately 90% of new tuberculosis (TB) cases notified in Norway are asylum seekers and other immigrants from high-incidence countries. Asylum seekers are screened upon arrival at the National Immigration Centre. Other immigrants receive a letter from the Municipal Health Services requesting that they present for screening in their municipality of residence.

Independent risk factors associated with hospital-acquired pneumonia in an adult ICU: 4-year prospective cohort study in a university reference hospital.

Background: Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HP) is the most common infection in adult intensive care units (ICUs). To develop effective strategies to prevent it, we identified factors that independently increased the risk of contracting HP while admitted at an ICU.

Methods: We performed a prospective cohort study during 4 years in which we included all patients who had been admitted for at least 24 h to the ICU at a university reference hospital in Spain.

Ongoing hepatitis A outbreak in Europe 2013 to 2014: imported berry mix cake suspected to be the source of infection in Norway.

On 7 March 2014, an increase in hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections was identified in Norway. As of 12 April, 19 cases of HAV infection with a virus strain identical to an ongoing European outbreak have been identified. Six probable cases are currently under investigation.