Population-based study of influenza and invasive meningococcal disease among Greek children during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: Aiming to the containment of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, governments worldwide have implemented a series of non-pharmaceutical interventions. Many of them and especially school closures have impacted the circulation of multiple airborne pathogens among children and adolescents. This study investigates the incidence of influenza and invasive meningococcal disease among children aged 0-14 years in Greece during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Impact of a Single-Tube PCR Assay for the Detection of Serotypes a, c, d, e and f on the Epidemiological Surveillance in Greece.

Background: The decrease in the rate of meningitis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b after vaccine introduction and a possible change in epidemiology of H. influenzae disease highlights the need for continuous serotype surveillance. Methods: A single-tube multiplex PCR assay for serotyping of H.

Pneumococcal meningitis in Greece: A retrospective serotype surveillance study in the post-PCV13 era (2010-2020).

Background: As Greece is a country which has introduced the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) both in the infant and in the adult immunization programs, the aim of the study was to investigate age-specific and serotype-specific trends of pneumococcal meningitis over an 11-year period (2010-2020).

Materials And Methods: Data are reported from pneumococcal meningitis cases [notified to the National Public Health Organization (NPHO)], with clinical samples and bacterial isolates sent for pneumococcal identification and serotyping at the National Meningitis Reference Laboratory (NMRL). Pneumococcal identification was performed directly on clinical samples or bacterial isolates by multiplex PCR (mPCR) assay, while serotyping was carried out by application of the Capsular Sequence Typing (CST) method with the combination of single tube PCR assays.

Adherence to Recommendations for Βacillus Calmette-Guérin Vaccination of High-risk Neonates in Greece.

In 2016 a Βacillus Calmette-Guérin vaccination policy targeting high-risk neonates for tuberculosis before discharge from maternity hospital was adopted in Greece. Vaccination rates were 38.2% in 2019 and 24.