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Chikungunya is a disease carried by Aedes mosquitoes that affects >100 countries, mostly in the tropics and subtropics (1). In the European Union (EU), chikungunya is not endemic, even though [...]

Background A pre-existing, well-established European influenza surveillance network known as I-MOVE enabled the rapid implementation of a European multi-country COVID-19 hospital surveillance network for surveillance of hospitalized COVID-19 cases in early 2020. This network included 257 hospitals in 11 surveillance sites across nine countries. We aimed to identify whether the surveillance objectives were relevant to public health actions, whether the surveillance system met its objectives, where and how shortcomings could be improved, and whether the system was sustainable. Methods We identified six key attributes (meeting objectives, usefulness, timeliness, data quality, simplicity and sustainability) to assess, using Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's evaluation framework. We analyzed pooled datasets, held interviews and group discussions with 10 participating and coordinating sites and gathered feedback through web surveys. Results There was overall agreement that the surveillance objectives had been met and being involved in a network of European partners had additional important benefits for stakeholders. While the publication of the outputs was not always sufficiently timely, data submission processes were considered straightforward and the key surveillance variables (age, sex, hospital admission and mortality data) were complete. The main challenges were identified as the collection of the large number of variables, limited available human resources and information governance and data protection laws. Conclusions I-MOVE-COVID-19 delivered relevant and accurate data supporting the development and implementation of COVID-19 surveillance. Recommendations presented here identify learning opportunities to support preparedness and surveillance response for future pandemics. The applied evaluation framework in this study can be adapted for other European surveillance system evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

West Nile virus (WNV) and Usutu virus (USUV) are arthropod-borne flaviviruses that belong to the Japanese encephalitis serocomplex. Their natural life cycle involves ornithophilic mosquitoes (predominantly Culex spp.) as vectors [...]

BackgroundIn early 2020, the I-MOVE-COVID-19 hospital surveillance system was adapted from an existing influenza surveillance system to include hospitalised COVID-19 cases.AimTo describe trends in the demographic and clinical characteristics of hospitalised COVID-19 cases across Europe during the first 2 years of the pandemic, and to identify associations between sex, age and chronic conditions with admission to intensive care or high dependency units (ICU/HDU) and in-hospital mortality.MethodsWe pooled pseudonymised data from all hospitalised COVID-19 cases in 11 surveillance sites in nine European countries, collected between 1 February 2020 and 31 December 2021. Associations between sex, age and chronic conditions, with ICU/HDU admission and in-hospital mortality were examined using Pearson's chi-squared test, and crude odds ratio (OR) estimates with respective 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsOf 25,971 hospitalised COVID-19 cases, 55% were male, 35% were 75 years or older and 90% had a chronic underlying condition. Patients with two or more chronic underlying conditions were significantly more likely to die in-hospital from COVID-19 (OR: 10.84; 95% CI: 8.30-14.16) than those without a chronic condition.ConclusionThe surveillance demonstrated that males, those 75 years or older and those with chronic conditions were at greater risk of in-hospital death. Over the surveillance period, outcomes tended to improve, likely because of vaccinations. This surveillance has laid the groundwork for further research studies investigating the risk factors of hospitalised COVID-19 cases and vaccine effectiveness.

West Nile virus (WNV) infection is notifiable in humans and equids in the European Union (EU). An area where a human case is detected is considered affected until the end of the mosquito transmission season (week 48) and blood safety measures have to be implemented. We used human and equine case notifications between 2013 and 2017 to define the WNV distribution in the EU and to investigate the relevance of using equine cases as a complementary trigger for blood safety measures. Adding areas with equine cases to the definition of an affected area would have a major impact on blood safety measures. Adding areas with equine cases where human cases have been reported in the past would increase the timeliness of blood safety measures with only a limited impact. Although the occurrence of human and/or equine cases confirms virus circulation in the EU, no evidence was found that occurrence of equine cases leads to human cases and vice versa. We conclude that information about equine data should contribute to raising awareness among public health experts and trigger enhanced surveillance. Further studies are required before extending the definition of affected areas to areas with human and/or equine cases.