Surveillance and laboratory detection for non-polio enteroviruses in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2016.

Surveillance and laboratory detection for non-polio enteroviruses in the European Union/European Economic Area, 2016. Euro Surveill. 2017 Nov;22(45): Authors: Harvala H, Jasir A, Penttinen P, Pastore Celentano L, Greco D, Broberg E Abstract Enteroviruses (EVs) cause severe outbreaks of respiratory and neurological disease as illustrated by EV-D68 and EV-A71 outbreaks, respectively. We have mapped European laboratory capacity for identification and characterisation of non-polio EVs to improve preparedness to respond to (re)-emerging EVs linked to severe disease. An online questionnaire on non-polio EV surveillance and laboratory detection was submitted to all 30 European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries. Twenty-nine countries responded; 26 conducted laboratory-based non-polio EV surveillance, and 24 included neurological infections in their surveillance. Eleven countries have established specific surveillance for EV-D68 via sentinel influenza surveillance (n = 7), typing EV-positive respiratory samples (n = 10) and/or acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (n = 5). Of 26 countries performing non-polio EV characterisation/typing, 10 further characterised culture-positive EV isolates, whereas the remainder typed PCR-positive but culture-negative samples. Although 19 countries have introduced sequence-based EV typing, seven still rely entirely on virus isolation. Based on 2015 data, six countries typed over 300...
Source: Euro Surveill - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Euro Surveill Source Type: research