Publication: Standardising surveillance of hepatitis E virus infection in the EU/EEA: A review of national practices and suggestions for the way forward
Loading...
Identifiers
Publication date
2019-11
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Metrics
Export
Abstract
Background: Hepatitis E virus (HEV) infection is not notifiable at EU/EEA level, therefore surveillance relies on national policies only. Between 2005 and 2015, more than 20,000 cases were reported in EU/EEA countries. HEV testing is established in 26 countries and 19 countries sequence HEV viruses. Objective and study design: WHO's European Action plan for viral hepatitis recommends harmonised surveillance objectives and case definitions. ECDC's HEV expert group developed minimal and optimal criteria for national hepatitis E surveillance to support EU/EEA countries in enhancing their capacity and to harmonise methods. Results: The experts agreed that the primary objectives of national surveillance for HEV infections should focus on the basic epidemiology of the disease: to monitor the incidence of acute cases and chronic infections. The secondary objectives should be to describe viral phylotypes or subtypes and to identify potential clusters/outbreaks and possible routes of transmission. Seventeen of 20 countries with existing surveillance systems collect the minimal data set required to describe the epidemiology of acute cases. Eleven countries test for chronic infections. Twelve countries collect data to identify potential clusters/outbreaks and information on possible routes of transmission. Discussion: Overall, the majority of EU/EEA countries collect the suggested data and meet the outlined requirements to confirm an acute case.
Description
Keywords
EU/EEA Hepatitis E virus Surveillance Testing
MeSH Terms
Disease Outbreaks Epidemiological Monitoring Europe European Union Government Programs Hepatitis E Hepatitis E virus Humans Incidence Population Surveillance RNA, Viral World Health Organization
DeCS Terms
Bibliographic citation
J Clin Virol. 2019 Nov;120:63-67.
Collections
Publisher version
Document type
journal article