Eurosurveillance最新文献

In November 2023, the UK Health Security Agency was notified of PCR-confirmed group B (MenB) invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in a 3-year-old child (Case A), followed by probable IMD in a 2-year-old (Case B, culture and PCR tests negative) attending the same nursery. An incident management team (IMT) was convened. Both children were fully vaccinated with the MenB vaccine 4CMenB (Bexsero, GSK Biologicals). All 39 children attending the nursery and nine staff received ciprofloxacin chemoprophylaxis preceded by pharyngeal swabbing. Pharyngeal swabbing yielded two MenB isolates matching Case A. Antibiotic sensitivity testing and assessment of 4CMenB vaccine coverage using the meningococcal antigen typing system (MATS) revealed the strain was not covered by the 4CMenB vaccine. Although the alternative MenB vaccine, MenB-fHbp (Trumenba, Pfizer), is only licensed from 10 years and has never been given to children previously immunised with 4CMenB, the IMT considered the benefits of outbreak control outweighed potential risks. Two doses were given 4 weeks apart to 38 children (one family declined) and all staff; there were no serious adverse events. Our findings highlight the utility of swabbing to identify outbreak strains and provide first evidence for safe use of the MenB-fHbp vaccine in children previously vaccinated with 4CMenB.

Background: Baloxavir marboxil, a cap-dependent endonuclease inhibitor, was approved in Japan in February 2018 for treatment of influenza A and B infections, making Japan the first country to introduce its clinical use.

Aim: We aimed to assess baloxavir susceptibility among seasonal influenza viruses in Japan during the first seven seasons of clinical use, from 2017/18 to 2023/24.

Methods: We conducted nationwide surveillance on 3,671 influenza viruses using phenotypic and genotypic assays to evaluate baloxavir susceptibility and identify amino acid substitutions in the polymerase acidic (PA) protein associated with reduced susceptibility.

Results: Overall, 1.7% of tested viruses exhibited reduced susceptibility to baloxavir. Influenza A(H3N2) viruses showed the highest frequency (3.6%), followed by influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 (0.9%); no influenza B viruses exhibited reduced susceptibility. Key PA substitutions included E23K, Y24C, I38M/N/S/T/V and E199G/K. Viruses with reduced susceptibility were detected in both treated and untreated individuals. Reduced susceptibility was most frequent during the 2018/19 (4.6%) and 2022/23 (3.2%) seasons, both dominated by A(H3N2) viruses. Notably, the 2018/19 season coincided with peak baloxavir supply to medical institutions, while subsequent seasons with lower antiviral use showed a lower proportion of reduced-susceptibility viruses.

Conclusion: Our findings suggest a possible association between the extent of baloxavir use and the emergence of resistance and highlight how circulating subtypes shape seasonal susceptibility profiles. Although reduced susceptibility to baloxavir remains relatively rare, emergence of transmissible virus variants emphasises the need for continued phenotypic and genotypic surveillance to guide treatment strategies, support public health preparedness, and prevent the spread of resistant viruses.

During the early 2025/26 influenza season, influenza A(H3N2) subclade K rapidly predominated in Beijing, China. Using a test-negative design, we estimated influenza vaccine effectiveness (VE) among influenza-like illness outpatients tested between September and December 2025. Among 9,579 participants, sequencing of 316 randomly selected A(H3N2)-positive samples showed 84.8% were subclade K, and antigenic analysis of 65 viruses indicated antigenic divergence. Despite this, adjusted VE against laboratory-confirmed influenza was 41.3% (95% CI: 29.2 to 51.3), indicating moderate protection during this subclade K-dominated season.

BACKGROUNDRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in young children and older adults. A long-acting anti-RSV monoclonal antibody (nirsevimab) and bivalent pre-fusion F-protein pregnancy vaccine became available to prevent RSV in young children in 2024; two RSV vaccines for adults ≥ 60 years were also available.AIMTo report 2024 RSV epidemiology in Australia, identify risk factors for severe outcomes, and use and effectiveness of RSV immunisation products.METHODSNational sentinel hospital-based RSV surveillance was established in 2024, recruiting hospitalised laboratory-confirmed RSV cases and test-negative controls from 22 sites in a national hospital network (FluCAN-PAEDS).RESULTSBetween April and December 2024, 3,998 subjects (3,415 children; 582 adults) were hospitalised with RSV. Most cases were infants < 12 months (n = 1,534; 38.4%); 1,661 (41.5%) had underlying medical conditions. Children < 6 months, First Nations children, those born preterm or with underlying medical conditions (cardiac, neurological, genetic and metabolic disease/disorders, immunosuppression) were at greatest risk of severe outcomes. Severe outcomes were more frequent in adults with malignancy, respiratory or cardiac disease. Nirsevimab effectiveness against hospitalisation in infants < 12 months in the two Australian jurisdictions with population-wide immunisation programmes was 83.1% (95% CI: 67.4-91.3). RSV vaccine use (pregnancy; adults ≥ 60 years) was limited, precluding effectiveness assessments.CONCLUSIONNational surveillance enabled timely 2024 data collection with the capability to evaluate effectiveness of immunisation products preventing RSV. Nirsevimab demonstrated comparable effectiveness to that in the northern hemisphere, informing Australia's 2025 strategy. Evaluation to assess the impact of more widespread uptake of RSV prevention products continues.

The recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) calls for monitoring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in wastewater of large European agglomerations (≥ 100,000 person equivalents). Guidance on scope and methods is currently in development. Two European Joint Actions share a goal to harmonise procedures and indicators: the European Union (EU)-Wastewater Integrated Surveillance for Public Health (EU-WISH), aiming to strengthen wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) for public health and the EU-Joint Action Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections (EU-JAMRAI) 2, providing among others, approaches for environmental surveillance of AMR. An EU-WISH survey in 2024, mapping WBS AMR-related activities across Europe, revealed that of 27 countries surveyed, 11 had an operative AMR WBS system and mainly employed WBS to determine AMR trends, primarily through culture-based analyses, in-depth characterisation of specific bacteria, and quantitative PCR for specific resistance genes. Occasionally metagenomics was used. We argue that prioritising AMR WBS targets should consider the intended objectives of surveillance, which could include uncovering AMR trends and emerging AMR determinants in humans, the assessment of antimicrobial/AMR environmental release, and wastewater treatment efficiency. Targets should be assessed for their public health relevance and the usefulness of complementary information they provide, while integrating measurability, resource efficiency, and expertise from different One Health domains.

BACKGROUNDSalmonellosis is the second most notified food-borne infection in Europe. In Czechia (CZ), the notification rate has consistently been above the European average, five times higher in 2013-2022.AIMWe aimed to describe the epidemiology of salmonellosis in CZ in 2012-2023 and identify areas for improving surveillance and public health actions.METHODSWe extracted data on notified salmonellosis cases from the national surveillance system and analysed the dataset for demographic characteristics, hospitalisation, transmission mode and suspected vehicle, descriptively and by chi-square tests and logistic regression.RESULTSIn 2012-2023, 130,990 cases (102.7/100,000 inhabitants) were notified. The overall annual notification rate decreased from 111.7 per 100,000 in 2012-2017 to 94.2 per 100,000 in 2018-2023. Most cases were children and adolescents aged < 15 years (n = 68,370; 52.2%) and most were females (n = 68,425; 52.2%) but males dominated among cases aged < 15 years (35,790/68,370; 52.3%). Few cases were imported (n = 2,627; 2.0%) or outbreak-related (n = 5,361; 4.1%); most were diagnosed in June-October (n = 83,057; 63.4%). Of all notified cases, 22.2% (n = 29,082) were hospitalised. Age of ≥ 40 years was associated with hospitalisation and Salmonella sepsis (p < 0.001). Transmission mode was identified for 59,729 (45.6%) cases.CONCLUSIONDespite a decline, the notification rates of salmonellosis remain high in CZ. The effectiveness of the surveillance system is reflected in relatively low hospitalisation rates compared with some other European countries, yet the source and transmission mode were unidentified in over half of the cases. We encourage enhancing epidemiological investigations, improving sample submission to the National Reference Laboratory and molecular surveillance.

In Europe, the 2025/26 seasonal influenza epidemic started in October 2025. Co-circulation of A(H3N2) and A(H1N1)pdm09 was observed in several countries including France. We estimated early vaccine effectiveness (VE) against influenza virus in French outpatients (5,451 positives/18,816 negatives). A significant VE across all age groups was measured: 28% (95% CI: 17-37) for those aged ≥ 65 years, 45% (95% CI: 36-53) for 18-64-year-olds and 57% (95% CIs: 29-74) for 0-17-year-olds. Reinforcing vaccination uptake is warranted.