Measles Among the Foreign-Born Population Residing in Spain, 2014-2022: Missed Opportunities for Vaccination.

Background/objectives: Spain has been in a measles elimination phase since 2014. No evidence exists about the distribution of measles cases among the population born outside Spain. The aim of this study was thus to describe the epidemiological situation of measles, stratified by place of birth, during the post-elimination period in Spain.

Reduced pertussis disease severity in infants following the introduction of pertussis vaccination of pregnant women in Spain, 2015-2019.

Background: Maternal pertussis vaccination during the third trimester of pregnancy was implemented in 2015 in Spain, reaching a national coverage of 84% in 2019. In this ecological study, we investigated whether there was a change in the disease severity for pertussis in infants upon introduction of prenatal pertussis vaccination.

Methods: We performed a time-trend analysis of infant pertussis hospitalizations during 2005-2019 in Spain using national register data.

Hybrid capture shotgun sequencing detected unexpected viruses in the cerebrospinal fluid of children with acute meningitis and encephalitis.

Purpose: Investigation of undiagnosed cases of infectious neurological diseases, especially in the paediatric population, remains a challenge. This study aimed to enhance understanding of viruses in CSF from children with clinically diagnosed meningitis and/or encephalitis (M/ME) of unknown aetiology using shotgun sequencing enhanced by hybrid capture (HCSS).

Methods: A single-centre prospective study was conducted at Sant Joan de Déu University Hospital, Barcelona, involving 40 M/ME episodes of unknown aetiology, recruited from May 2021 to July 2022.

Investigating Local Patterns of Mumps Virus Circulation, Using a Combination of Molecular Tools.

Mumps is a vaccine-preventable disease caused by the mumps virus (MuV). However, MuV has re-emerged in many countries with high vaccine coverage. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends molecular surveillance based on sequencing of the small hydrophobic (SH) gene.

An interregional measles outbreak in Spain with nosocomial transmission, November 2017 to July 2018.

Given sustained high vaccination coverage and enhanced surveillance for measles, Spain has been free of endemic measles transmission since 2014, achieving elimination certification from the World Health Organization in 2017. In November 2017, measles was introduced through an imported case travelling to the Valencian Community, causing an interregional outbreak. Here, we describe the outbreak using data reported to the national epidemiological surveillance network.

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.

Measles in Vaccinated People: Epidemiology and Challenges in Surveillance and Diagnosis in the Post-Elimination Phase. Spain, 2014-2020.

The MMR vaccination program was introduced in Spain in 1981. Consistently high vaccination coverage has led to Spain being declared free of endemic measles transmission since 2014. A few imported and import-related cases were reported during the post-elimination phase (2014 to 2020), with very low incidence: three cases per million of inhabitants a year, 70% in adults.

[Surveillance and epidemiology of Herpes Zoster in Spain.].

Objective: Herpes Zoster (HZ) results from reactivation of latent varicella-zoster virus infection and is associated with immunosuppression and ageing. HZ is of increasing importance in advanced societies. Vaccination appears as a powerful tool to reduce HZ as well as postherpetic neuralgia, the main zoster complication.

Molecular and Epidemiological Characterization of Toxigenic and Nontoxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Corynebacterium belfantii, Corynebacterium rouxii, and Corynebacterium ulcerans Isolates Identified in Spain from 2014 to 2019.

This study examines the microbiological and epidemiological characteristics of toxigenic and nontoxigenic isolates submitted to the national reference laboratory in Spain, between 2014 and 2019, in order to describe the current situation and improve our knowledge regarding these emerging pathogens. Epidemiological information was extracted from the Spanish Surveillance System. Microbiological and molecular characterization was carried out using phenotypic methods, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), whole-genome sequencing (WGS), and core genome MLST (cgMLST).

Last cases of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome in Spain, 1997-2016: The success of a vaccination program.

With a highly immunized population, rubella infection in Spain is so low that the WHO has declared the elimination of rubella. Rubella in pregnant women is also very rare. The objective of this study is to describe the last cases of congenital rubella syndrome reported and recommend actions to maintain the status of the disease as eliminated.

Measles virus genotype D4 strains with non-standard length M-F non-coding region circulated during the major outbreaks of 2011-2012 in Spain.

In recent decades, vaccination has substantially reduced the number of measles cases to levels close to the elimination stage. However, major measles outbreaks occurred in Europe during 2010-2012, after the introduction of the D4-Enfield lineage. We have performed a molecular characterization of 75 measles virus genotype D4 strains from patients infected in Spain between 2004 and 2012 by sequencing the N-450 region and the M-F non-coding region (M-F NCR) in order to identify genetic features of these viruses.

Shift within age-groups of mumps incidence, hospitalizations and severe complications in a highly vaccinated population. Spain, 1998-2014.

The mumps vaccine (Jeryl-Lynn-strain) was introduced in Spain in 1981, and a vaccination policy which included a second dose was added in 1995. From 1992-1999, a Rubini-strain based vaccine was administered in many regions but later withdrawn due to lack of effectiveness. Despite high levels of vaccination coverage, epidemics have continued to appear.