1. Meningococcal serogroup Y disease in Europe: Continuation of high importance in some European regions in 2013
- Author
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Muhamed-Kheir Taha, Georgina Tzanakaki, Cecilia Fazio, Alexander Pysik, Maria Koliou, Michael Bröker, Stéphane Emonet, Susanne Jacobsson, Anna Skoczynska, Markku Kuusi, Maija Toropainen, Metka Paragi, Maria João Simões, Paola Stefanelli, David Pace, Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève (HUG), Istituto Superiore di Sanità (ISS), Örebro University Hospital [Örebro, Sweden], Ministry of Health [Cyprus], National Institute for Health and Welfare [Helsinki], Mater Dei Hospital [Malta], National Institute of Public Health of the Republic of Slovenia, Instituto Nacional de Saùde Dr Ricardo Jorge [Portugal] (INSA), National Reference Centre for Bacterial Meningitis [Warsaw, Poland] (NRCBM), National Medicines Institute - Narodowy Instytut Leków [Warsaw] (NIL), National Institute of Public Health and Welfare [Helsinki], Centre National de Référence des Méningocoques et Haemophilus influenzae - National Reference Center Meningococci and Haemophilus influenzae (CNR), Institut Pasteur [Paris] (IP), National School of Public Health Athens, Istituto Superiore di Sanita [Rome], and Institut Pasteur [Paris]
- Subjects
Infecções Respiratórias ,Invasive Meningococcal Disease ,MESH: Topography, Medical ,Epidemiology ,Disease ,Neisseria meningitidis ,medicine.disease_cause ,Health problems ,0302 clinical medicine ,MESH: Aged, 80 and over ,IMD ,MESH: Child ,Prevalence ,Immunology and Allergy ,030212 general & internal medicine ,Child ,MESH: Aged ,Aged, 80 and over ,0303 health sciences ,Meningococcal ,MESH: Middle Aged ,MESH: Meningitis, Meningococcal ,Men ,Middle Aged ,MESH: Infant ,3. Good health ,Europe ,Invasive meningococcal disease ,MESH: Young Adult ,Child, Preschool ,Geographic regions ,Doença Meningocócica ,epidemiology ,Topography, Medical ,Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup Y ,Meningitis ,meningococcal ,Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Meningococcal Serogroup Y ,Adolescent ,Immunology ,Meningitis, Meningococcal ,Neisseria meningitidis serogroup Y ,03 medical and health sciences ,Young Adult ,Age Distribution ,medicine ,Humans ,MESH: Age Distribution ,MESH: Prevalence ,Aged ,Pharmacology ,MESH: Adolescent ,MESH: Humans ,meningococcal serogroup Y ,030306 microbiology ,business.industry ,invasive meningococcal disease ,MESH: Child, Preschool ,Infant ,MESH: Adult ,medicine.disease ,bacterial infections and mycoses ,Virology ,MESH: Europe/epidemiology ,Commentary ,[SDV.SPEE]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Santé publique et épidémiologie ,business ,MESH: Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup Y ,Demography - Abstract
International audience; Neisseria meningitidis or meningococcus is divided into 12 distinct serogroups of which A, B, C, W, X, and Y are medically most important and cause health problems in different parts of the world. The epidemiology of N. meningitidis is unpredictable over time and across geographic regions. Globally, serogroup A has been prevalent in the African "meningitis belt" whereas serogroup B and C have predominated in Europe. In a paper published earlier in this journal (1) , an increase in serogroup Y invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) in some European countries was reported based on the epidemiological data for 2010, 2011 and 2012. Here, we report additional data from 30 European countries indicating that high or increased serogroup Y disease levels have continued in 2013 in certain regions of Europe. In the Western and Central Europe, there were no major changes in the proportion of serogroup Y IMD cases in 2013 compared to 2012. In the Scandinavian countries, proportion of serogroup Y disease remained high, ranging from 26% to 51% in 2013. This was in contrast to Baltic, Eastern and most Southern European countries, where the proportion of serogroup Y IMD was low similarly to previous years. For the last 2 decades, the mean age of patients affected by serogroup Y was 41 y for 7 countries from which data was available and 50% of cases were in patients aged 45 to 88 y. The age distribution of serogroup Y was bimodal and did not change significantly despite the increase of the total number and the proportion of serogroup Y IMD in some European regions.
- Published
- 2015