Ten-Week Follow-Up of Monkeypox Case-Patient, Sweden, 2022.

A previously healthy male patient had detectable monkeypox virus DNA in saliva 76 days after laboratory confirmation of infection. A comprehensive characterization of viral kinetics and a detailed follow-up indicated a declining risk for transmission during the weeks after monkeypox symptoms appeared.

Modelling varicella vaccination - What does a lack of surge in herpes zoster incidence tell us about exogenous boosting?

Background: For decades, assessments of the impact of universal varicella vaccination on the epidemiology of varicella and herpes zoster (HZ) have been made using mathematical modelling. Decreased virus circulation and the resulting diminished exogenous boosting have been predicted to lead to a surge in HZ incidence. Lately, the exogenous boosting hypothesis has been challenged due to a lack of an extensive surge in HZ incidence in countries with, by now long-standing universal varicella vaccination.

Cost-effectiveness of varicella and herpes zoster vaccination in Sweden: An economic evaluation using a dynamic transmission model.

Objectives: Comprehensive cost-effectiveness analyses of introducing varicella and/or herpes zoster vaccination in the Swedish national vaccination programme.

Design: Cost-effectiveness analyses based on epidemiological results from a specifically developed transmission model.

Setting: National vaccination programme in Sweden, over an 85- or 20-year time horizon depending on the vaccination strategy.

Children hospitalised with four common viral diseases showed epidemiological differences but few socio-economic variations.

Aim: This study explored the differences in demographic and socio-economic factors between children hospitalised due to four common viral infections.

Methods: Demographic data were obtained from Statistics Sweden on >3000 children admitted to Astrid Lindgren Children's Hospital in 2009-2014 with rotavirus, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) or chickenpox. We compared demographic and socio-economic factors between case groups using logistic regression with rotavirus cases as reference.

Significant decrease in injection risk behaviours among participants in a needle exchange programme.

Sharing of unsterile injection equipment contributes to transmission of hepatitis C virus (HCV), HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) among people who inject drugs (PWID) but is largely preventable through needle exchange programmes (NEP). Sweden has been one of the last countries in Europe to scale up access to NEP for PWID, who consequently have high prevalence rates of HCV and HIV. The aim of the study was to investigate demographic and drug-related determinants of injection risk behaviours, sharing of needle/syringe and paraphernalia, and patterns of change over time in subgroups of PWID participating in the Stockholm NEP.

The burden of chickenpox disease in Sweden.

Background: Chickenpox vaccine is not included in the routine childhood vaccination programme in Sweden. The aim of this study was to estimate the baseline of national chickenpox disease burden, as comprehensive studies, required for an assessment regarding vaccine introduction, are lacking.

Methods: We used available health care registers and databases; the death register, hospitalisations register, communicable disease notifications database, Stockholm County registers on consultations in specialist and primary care, temporary parental benefit to care for a sick child, and searches on the health care system's website.

Delayed HIV diagnosis common in Sweden, 2003-2010.

Background: Early diagnosis of HIV is important for the prognosis of individual patients, because antiretroviral treatment can be started at the appropriate time, and for public health, because transmission can be prevented.

Methods: Data were collected from 767 HIV patients who were diagnosed in Sweden during 2003-2010 and were infected in Sweden or born in Sweden and infected abroad. A recent infection testing algorithm (RITA) was applied to BED-EIA test results (OD-n < 0.

Risk of HIV transmission from patients on antiretroviral therapy: a position statement from the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Swedish Reference Group for Antiviral Therapy.

The modern medical treatment of HIV with antiretroviral therapy (ART) has drastically reduced the morbidity and mortality in patients infected with this virus. ART has also been shown to reduce the transmission risk from individual patients as well as the spread of the infection at the population level. This position statement from the Public Health Agency of Sweden and the Swedish Reference Group for Antiviral Therapy is based on a workshop organized in the fall of 2012.

Large outbreak of Cryptosporidium hominis infection transmitted through the public water supply, Sweden.

In November 2010, ≈27,000 (≈45%) inhabitants of Östersund, Sweden, were affected by a waterborne outbreak of cryptosporidiosis. The outbreak was characterized by a rapid onset and high attack rate, especially among young and middle-aged persons. Young age, number of infected family members, amount of water consumed daily, and gluten intolerance were identified as risk factors for acquiring cryptosporidiosis.

Uptake of the human papillomavirus-vaccination within the free-of-charge childhood vaccination programme in Denmark.

Background: Persistent infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is a prerequisite for cervical cancer, which causes 175 yearly deaths and substantial morbidity in Denmark. In January 2009, HPV-vaccination for 12 year-old girls was introduced into the free-of-charge childhood vaccination programme. Due to concerns about potential poor compliance we determined the uptake and identified determinants for vaccination after the first year of the programme.

Burden of illness of the 2009 pandemic of influenza A (H1N1) in Denmark.

We analysed Danish surveillance data to estimate influenza-associated morbidity and mortality in 2009. To obtain population-based estimates of the clinical attack rate, we combined data from two different primary health care surveillance systems, national numbers of the proportion of positive influenza tests, and data from a web-based interview on health care seeking behaviour during the pandemic. From a national registry, we obtained data on hospital admissions (ICD-10 codes) for influenza related conditions.

Registry-based surveillance of influenza-associated hospitalisations during the 2009 influenza pandemic in Denmark: the hidden burden on the young.

Background: To follow the impact of the 2009 influenza pandemic in Denmark, influenza surveillance was extended with a system monitoring potentially influenza-associated hospitalisations.

Methodology/principal Findings: National administrative data from 2004-2010 from the automatic reporting of all hospital visits and admissions in Denmark (population 5.5 million) were used.