Eurosurveillance
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Up to early July 2009, surveillance of H1N1 cases in France was based on the identification of all possible cases in order to implement, around each of them, control measures aimed at delaying the spread of the virus. The global dissemination of the virus and the starting community transmission in France led us to shift to a population-based surveillance relying mainly on the identification and investigation of clusters of influenza-like illness, on the identification and individual follow-up of confirmed hospitalised cases as well as on the monitoring, through various sentinel systems, of the use of ambulatory and hospital care for influenza-like symptoms.
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With the winter season on the southern hemisphere that starts in Reunion Island in June seasonal influenza activity usually increases shortly afterwards. The new influenza A(H1N1)v virus is rapidly spreading worldwide and may reach the island during the coming winter season. We have therefore enhanced influenza surveillance to detect the introduction of influenza A(H1N1)v, monitor its spread and impact on public health and characterise potential viral changes, particularly if seasonal influenza A(H1N1), resistant to oseltamivir, co-circulates with A(H1N1)v.
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Review
WHO criteria for measles elimination: a critique with reference to criteria for polio elimination.
Smallpox was formally declared as eradicated in 1979. Smallpox is the only infectious disease of humans that has ever been eradicated. Poliomyelitis has been eliminated from three of the six World Health Organization (WHO) regions although not all countries within those regions always meet the elimination criteria. ⋯ We propose an alternative approach to documenting measles elimination, with the two key criteria being molecular evidence to confirm the lack of a circulating endemic genotype for at least one year and maintenance of 95% coverage of one dose of measles-containing vaccine, with an opportunity for a second dose. Elimination status should be reviewed annually. We suggest four principles that should guide development of final criteria to document measles elimination: countries that have eliminated measles should be able to meet the elimination criteria; quality surveillance criteria are necessary but not sufficient to define elimination; quality surveillance criteria should be guided by elimination criteria, not the other way around; and elimination criteria should not differ between the WHO regions without good reason.
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Given the need of programme planners and policy makers for descriptions of specific interventions and quantitative estimates of intervention effects to make informed decisions concerning prevention funding and research, there is a need for a systematic review that updates the current knowledge base about HIV/STI preventive interventions targeted at men who have sex with men (MSM) in Europe. The aim was to summarise and assess the effectiveness of HIV/STI prevention interventions for MSM living in Europe, and to identify intervention characteristics associated with effectiveness as well as potential gaps in the evidence base. A systematic search for relevant literature in eight international databases and in reference lists of relevant reviews and included studies was performed. ⋯ The results point to possible short term effects of interventions in terms of reductions in the proportion of MSM who engage in UAI, but the paucity of controlled studies demonstrates the need for research in this area. There is an overall deficit in outcome evaluations of interventions aimed at reducing HIV/STI risk behaviour among MSM in Europe. Designing behavioural HIV/STI preventive strategies to avert new infections, and the evaluation of such prevention programmes for MSM is an important component of a comprehensive HIV/STI containment strategy across the continuum of prevention and care.