Tick-borne encephalitis: A 43-year summary of epidemiological and clinical data from Latvia (1973 to 2016).

Background: The incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) varies significantly over time. To better understand the annual incidence of all TBE cases in Latvia we investigated the disease burden in the country from 1973-2016 using several available sources and case definitions.

Methods: We identified cases of TBE from an electronic database (maintained by the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia [CDPC]) by the use of ICD-10 diagnosis codes for TBE (A84; A84.

More than 20 years after re-emerging in the 1990s, diphtheria remains a public health problem in Latvia.

In 1994, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the goal of eliminating diphtheria within the WHO European Region by the year 2000. However, in 1990 an epidemic emerged within the Russian Federation and spread to other countries, including Latvia, by 1994. We describe national surveillance and immunisation coverage data in Latvia from 1994 to 2014 and present historical data from 1946.

Immunogenetic Markers Definition in Latvian Patients with Lyme Borreliosis and Lyme Neuroborreliosis.

The aim of this study was to determine the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-DRB1 alleles in two groups of patients in Latvia: patients with Lyme borreliosis and patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis. The study included 216 patients with Lyme borreliosis, 29 patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis and 282 control persons. All surveyed persons were residents of Latvia.

Legionella pneumophila Seropositivity-Associated Factors in Latvian Blood Donors.

Continuous environmental exposure of humans to Legionella may induce immune responses and generation of antibodies. The aim of this study was to investigate the seroprevalence of Legionella pneumophila serogroups (SG) 1-6 in the general healthy population and identify the associated host-related and environmental risk factors. L.

Treatment outcomes among drug-susceptible tuberculosis patients in Latvia, 2006-2010.

Setting: Latvia, an Eastern European country with a high burden of tuberculosis (TB).

Objective: To describe treatment outcomes among new drug-susceptible TB patients and assess the association of treatment outcomes with selected social determinants and risk factors.

Design: A retrospective cohort study of patients aged ⩾15 years registered during 2006-2010, with a review of records in the National Tuberculosis Registry.

Associations of HLA DR and DQ molecules with Lyme borreliosis in Latvian patients.

Background: Many autoimmune diseases are associated with variants of HLA genes such as those encoding the MHC complex. This correlation is not absolute, but may help in understanding of the molecular mechanism of disease. The purpose of this study was to determine HLA-DR,-DQ alleles in Latvian patients with Lyme borreliosis and control (healthy) persons.

Diphtheria in the postepidemic period, Europe, 2000-2009.

Diphtheria incidence has decreased in Europe since its resurgence in the 1990s, but circulation continues in some countries in eastern Europe, and sporadic cases have been reported elsewhere. Surveillance data from Diphtheria Surveillance Network countries and the World Health Organization European Region for 2000-2009 were analyzed. Latvia reported the highest annual incidence in Europe each year, but the Russian Federation and Ukraine accounted for 83% of all cases.

Increase of cases of legionellosis in Latvia, 2011.

An increased number of legionellosis cases in 2011 has been reported in Latvia, compared to the ten previous years. A total of 30 legionellosis cases (1.35 per 100,000 inhabitants), including 19 females, have been confirmed until the end of September 2011.

Tick-borne encephalitis in Latvia 1973-2009: epidemiology, clinical features and sequelae.

Background And Purpose: To report a 37-year observational experience in Latvia relating the incidence of human tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and its clinical manifestations, to the field abundance of ticks.

Methods: Tick abundance was measured by standard flagging techniques. Incidence of human tick-borne disease was derived from Public Health reporting data.

Assessing the risk of a community outbreak of hepatitis A on blood safety in Latvia, 2008.

Post-transfusion hepatitis A virus (HAV) infection worldwide is considered a sporadic event. An outbreak of HAV infection occurred in Latvia between the end of 2007 and throughout 2008 with more than 2,800 confirmed cases reported over a 13-month period (incidence of 123 per 100,000 population). The majority of reported HAV infection cases were in people over 18 years of age and in people living in the capitalcity, Riga.

Ongoing outbreak of aseptic meningitis in South-Eastern Latvia, June - August 2010.

An outbreak of aseptic meningitis has been ongoing in several areas of Latgale region, in the south-eastern part of Latvia since the end of June 2010. By 9 August 2010, 114 cases had been notified. Most of the cases were registered in the city and amalgamated municipality of Daugavpils and neighbouring territories.

Screening for Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Corynebacterium ulcerans in patients with upper respiratory tract infections 2007-2008: a multicentre European study.

Diphtheria is now rare in most European countries but, when cases do arise, the case fatality rate is high (5-10%). Because few countries continue to routinely screen for the causative organisms of diphtheria, the extent to which they are circulating amongst different European populations is largely unknown. During 2007-2008, ten European countries each screened between 968 and 8551 throat swabs from patients with upper respiratory tract infections.

Community-wide outbreak of hepatitis A in Latvia in 2008 - an update.

An outbreak of hepatitis A has been ongoing in Latvia with 2,817 confirmed cases reported between 20 November 2007 and 31 December 2008. Initially the spread of infection was due to transmission among drug users and other high-risk groups, as well as several outbreaks in Riga (affecting a school and a restaurant), but in the second half of the year led to a community-wide increase in the number of cases. Molecular analysis of 100 strains showed that 95 belonged to genotype IA, of which 89 were identical and six were single nucleotide variants of the same sequence.

Community-wide outbreak of hepatitis A in Latvia, in 2008.

Since November 2007, an increase in the number of reported hepatitis A cases has been observed in Latvia. The aim of this report is to provide an update on the descriptive epidemiology of hepatitis A in Latvia and suggest some possible explanations of the recent increase in incidence.

Behavioural responses to perceived risk of tick-borne encephalitis: vaccination and avoidance in the Baltics and Slovenia.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) incidence increased markedly in the Baltics and Slovenia in the early 1990s, but then declined again in some places. Our analyses of temporal and spatial data on TBE incidence and vaccination revealed that over 1970-2005 up-take of vaccination varied in both time and space according to incidence, i.e.

Tick-borne encephalitis in the Baltic States: identifying risk factors in space and time.

This paper presents preliminary results in our investigations of the biological (abiotic and biotic) and non-biological causes of the spatial heterogeneity and temporal change of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), both within and between Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Spatial analysis revealed that the land cover and precise seasonal patterns of climatic indices (temperature and normalized difference vegetation index) can explain 55% of the observed spatial variation in TBE incidence over the period 1993-98 across all the Baltic States. Temporal analysis of climatic variables indicates a very specific change in spring temperature conditions from 1993 onwards that could enhance the transmission of TBE virus.

Tick-borne encephalitis in childhood--consensus 2004.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a communicable disease caused by a flavi-virus, ticks being the main vectors. The nervous system is affected, four clinical features of different severity are observed: meningitis, meningoencephalitis, meningoencephalomyelitis, meningoradiculoneuritis. TBE is a preventable disease, which is rapidly becoming a growing public health problem in Europe.

Vectors of tick-borne diseases and epidemiological situation in Latvia in 1993-2002.

During the period of 1993-2002 an increase and the remarkable changes in the incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme borreliosis (LB) as well as annual activities of vector species were noticed. The highest increase of TBE morbidity in Latvia has been observed in 1994 and 1995, and less expressed also in 1998 which was followed by a significant decrease during subsequent years. Whereas the highest peak of LB morbidity has been noticed in 1998 with only a minor decrease during subsequent years.