Outbreak of Neisseria meningitidis capsular group W among scouts returning from the World Scout Jamboree, Japan, 2015.

The 23rd World Scout Jamboree was held in Japan from 28 July to 8 August 2015 and was attended by over 33,000 scouts from 162 countries. An outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease capsular group W was investigated among participants, with four confirmed cases identified in Scotland, who were all associated with one particular scout unit, and two confirmed cases in Sweden; molecular testing showed the same strain to be responsible for illness in both countries. The report describes the public health action taken to prevent further cases and the different decisions reached with respect to how wide to extend the offer of chemoprophylaxis in the two countries; in Scotland, chemoprophylaxis was offered to the unit of 40 participants to which the four cases belonged and to other close contacts of cases, while in Sweden chemoprophylaxis was offered to all those returning from the Jamboree.

An outbreak of schistosomiasis in travellers returning from endemic areas: the importance of rigorous tracing in peer groups exposed to risk of infection.

Background: Each year, schools across Scotland send their students on exchange programmes to Malawi. Between 2005 and 2009, 22.8% of Scotland's new cases of schistosomiasis were from freshwater exposure in Malawi, with 41.

Major incidents in rural areas: managing a pandemic A/H1N1/2009 cluster.

Context: Pandemic Influenza (A/H1N1/2009) caused worldwide concern because of its potential to spread rapidly in human populations. In Scotland, Government policy had been to seek to contain the spread of the virus for as long as possible in order to allow time for service preparations, and for vaccine development and supply.

Issue: The first major Scottish outbreak of pandemic A/H1N1/2009 was in the rural area of Cowal and Bute.

HPV vaccination: vaccine acceptance, side effects and screening intentions.

As part of an evaluation of the introductory campaign of human papilloma virus (HPV) vaccine in a Scottish health board, self-administered questionnaires were offered to all 5007 eligible girls in school following the third dose of HPV to identify side-effects, reasons for non-vaccination and future cervical screening intentions, and 2775 (56.2%) replied. In all, 630 (23.

Factors influencing the uptake of childhood immunisation in rural areas.

Background: Childhood vaccination has been vigorously debated in recent years. Professional and parental confidence in the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine in particular has been shaken, as reflected by its decreased uptake.

Aim: To investigate the influence of practice type and the method of vaccination call/recall on childhood immunisation coverage.