Background
In Slovenia, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) surveillance is based on national laboratory data. The weeks with more than 10% of samples tested positive compose RSV epidemic season. ...The use of real‐time multiplex PCR, which identifies other respiratory pathogens in parallel with RSV, caused more testing but the percentage of RSV positives lowered. The 10% threshold was reached with delay, which raised concern about its suitability for defining RSV seasonality.
Methods
To describe the seasonality of RSV, the onset, offset and duration of the RSV epidemic season across 10 years (from week 40, 2008/2009 to week 39, 2017/2018), four calculative methods were deployed including moving epidemic method, MEM, and epidemiological parameters were compared.
Results
In 10 years, 10 969 (12%) out of 90 264 samples tested positive for RSV. The number of tested samples increased remarkably from the first to last season with a drop in the percentage of positive samples from 23% to 10%. The onset of RSV epidemic varied considerably regardless of the calculative method used (from 10 to 13 weeks). The unevenness in the RSV epidemic season end was also observed. The average duration of RSV epidemic season was the shortest when moving epidemic method has been used (15.7 weeks) and longest with ≥3% method (22.9 weeks).
Conclusion
The ≥3% calculative method could be used as an early warning of the RSV season. However, ≥7% calculative method was found to be reliable enough to define the epidemiological parameters of an ongoing season and to support public health response. The potential of the moving epidemic method should be further explored.
Epidemiological surveillance of gastrointestinal communicable diseases in Slovenia from 1999 to 2009 Introduction: The surveillance of infectious diarrhoea (ID) in Slovenia is based on the Law on ...Communicable Diseases (Official Gazette 33 / 06) and the Act on Registration (Official Gazette 16/99). The incidence of ID is based on passive notification. Methods: The epidemiological situation of infectious diarrhoea in Slovenia from 1999 to 2009 was estimated. The estimation was based on notifications. Results: From 1999 to 2009, the incidence of all ID inclusive of bacterial, viral and unknown etiology increased. The incidence of all ID increased for 61% from 1999 to 2009 in spite of decrease of incidence of bacterial ID. The incidence of viral enteritis increased: the incidence of rotavirus enteritis by 80% and the incidence of norovirus enteritis by 360%. On the contrary, the incidence of bacterial gastroenterocolitis decreased. The decrease in incidence was greatest for salmonella ID (71%), then E.coli ID (53%) and campylobacter ID (32%). The average incidence of all ID from 1999 to 2009 was 536 / 100 000 inhabitants. Conclusions: Notifications for all ID comprise a quarter of all the notifications of all infectious diseases and remain an important public health problem. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT
BackgroundLeptospirosis is a zoonotic disease caused by bacteria of the genus
. Humans are infected by exposure to animal urine or urine-contaminated environments. Although disease incidence is lower ...in Europe compared with tropical regions, there have been reports of an increase in leptospirosis cases since the 2000s in some European countries.AimWe aimed to describe the epidemiology of reported cases of leptospirosis in the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) during 2010-2021 and to identify potential changes in epidemiological patterns.MethodsWe ran a descriptive analysis of leptospirosis cases reported by EU/EEA countries to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control with disease during 2010-2021. We also analysed trends at EU/EEA and national level.ResultsDuring 2010-2021, 23 countries reported 12,180 confirmed leptospirosis cases corresponding to a mean annual notification rate of 0.24 cases per 100,000 population. Five countries (France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal and Romania) accounted for 79% of all reported cases. The highest notification rate was observed in Slovenia with 0.82 cases per 100,000 population. Overall, the notification rate increased by 5.0% per year from 2010 to 2021 (95% CI: 1.2-8.8%), although trends differed across countries.ConclusionThe notification rate of leptospirosis at EU/EEA level increased during 2010-2021 despite including the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated changes in population behaviours. Studies at (sub)national level would help broaden the understanding of differences at country-level and specificities in terms of exposure to
, as well as biases in diagnosis and reporting.
The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected educational settings (ES) in Slovenia. To effectively limit the emergence and spread of SARS-CoV-2 infections in ES, it is important to identify the ...pathways of introduction and transmission of infection. This study aims to analyse the spread of infections in ES according to the level of education, taking into account the predominant variant of the virus in Slovenia in order to advise on public health action. We calculated the incidence rate of infection by age group, according to the level of the ES. Additionally, we analysed data on the reported outbreak criteria in ES. In Slovenia, SARS-CoV-2 infections in children and adolescents (1–18 years) accounted for 16.8% of all confirmed infections. The incidence and leading outbreak criteria differed according to the level of the ES and predominant SARS-CoV-2 variant. The occurrence of cases in ≥3 different “bubbles” was the most common outbreak criteria (59%). A high number of employee-imported outbreaks was observed in pre-school settings (44%). As countries move away from widespread nonpharmaceutical interventions, the focus should be on vaccination promotion among teaching staff in pre-school settings and systemic solutions, such as self-testing and ventilation, to enable safe educational environments.
Izhodišče: Incidenco akutnih črevesnih okužb (AČO) običajno ocenjujemo na osnovi prijav. S takšnim pristopom pogosto podcenimo dejansko breme AČO v populaciji. Simptomi AČO so redko tako resni, da ...sta potrebna obisk in nasvet zdravnika. Podatek o dejanskem bremenu AČO pridobimo s presečnimi študijami na vzorcu populacije, zato smo za oceno bremena v slovenski populaciji zasnovali periodično prevalenčno študijo.
During the summer of 2023, the European Region experienced a limited resurgence of mpox cases following the substantial outbreak in 2022. This increase was characterised by asynchronous and bimodal ...increases, with countries experiencing peaks at different times. The demographic profile of cases during the resurgence was largely consistent with those reported previously. All available sequences from the European Region belonged to clade IIb. Sustained efforts are crucial to control and eventually eliminate mpox in the European Region.During the summer of 2023, the European Region experienced a limited resurgence of mpox cases following the substantial outbreak in 2022. This increase was characterised by asynchronous and bimodal increases, with countries experiencing peaks at different times. The demographic profile of cases during the resurgence was largely consistent with those reported previously. All available sequences from the European Region belonged to clade IIb. Sustained efforts are crucial to control and eventually eliminate mpox in the European Region.
Abstract
Background: The assessment of the incidence of acute gastrintestinal infections (AGI) derived from the notifications underestimates the real burden of AGI. The symptoms of AGI are usually ...not severe enough for consultation with a physician. The more exact data on the burden of AGI are gained through cross sectional population-based studies. To estimate the burden of AGI in Slovenia, a period prevalence study was conducted.
Methods:
A simple random sample consisting of 5000 Slovenian inhabitants was chosen to whom a questionnaire was sent in July 2011. The participants were asked if they experienced AGI in June 2011 according to a symptombased case definition. The participants were asked to fill in the questionnaire on a paper or via a web page created for study purposes.
Results:
Out of 5000 participants, 1500 filled out the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 33%. The number of women responding out-numbered men - there were 58% female and 42% male responders. 66 (4.4%) of the responders claimed to have had AGI in June 2011. The incidence rate of acute AGI was therefore 4400 per 100,000 inhabitants. Comparatively, the incidence rate of notified cases in the same month was 78.9 per 100,000 inhabitants. The difference between the incidence of AGI, based on notified cases and incidence, calculated in the first Slovenian cross sectional study, showed that one out of 56 cases of AGI in the community has been notified.
Conclusion:
the incidence of AGI among the Slovenian population, based on data from our cross sectional study, is as expected higher than the incidence calculated from notification data from the same period.
Izvleček
Izhodišče: Incidenco akutnih črevesnih okužb (AČO) običajno ocenjujemo na osnovi prijav. S takšnim pristopom pogosto podcenimo dejansko breme AČO v populaciji. Simptomi AČO so redko tako resni, da sta potrebna obisk in nasvet zdravnika. Podatek o dejanskem bremenu AČO pridobimo s presečnimi študijami na vzorcu populacije, zato smo za oceno bremena v slovenski populaciji zasnovali periodično prevalenčno študijo.
Metode:
V raziskavo smo povabili 5.000 prebivalcev Slovenije, ki so bili izbrani s pomočjo preprostega naključnega vzorčenja. Na preiskovance smo v začetku julija 2011 naslovili vprašalnik. Osrednje vprašanje raziskave je bilo, ali so v juniju 2011 preboleli AČO. Dodatna vprašanja smo postavili tistim preiskovancem, ki so odgovorili, da so imeli v juniju 2011 simptome in znake, ki so se skladali z definicijo AČO. Preiskovanci so imeli možnost odgovoriti prek spletne ankete ali izpolniti vprašalnik v papirnati obliki.
Rezultati:
Natanko 1.500 preiskovancev je vrnilo izpolnjen vprašalnik (delež odgovorov: 33-odstoten). Vprašalnik je izpolnilo več žensk (58 %) kot moških (42 %). Akutno okužbo prebavil je po lastnih navedbah v juniju 2011 prebolelo 66 (4,4 %) preiskovancev. Incidenčna stopnja AČO je bila 4.400/100.000 prebivalcev Slovenije, kar je bistveno več kot prijavna incidenčna stopnja v istem mesecu (78,9/100.000). Na osnovi prve slovenske presečne študije AČO v populaciji ocenjujemo, da je na vsak prijavljen primer 56 zbolelih v populaciji.
Zaključek:
Rezultati presečne študije kažejo, da je incidenca AČO slovenskega prebivalstva pričakovano višja od incidence na osnovi prijav v istem obdobju.
Uvod. Tudi kratkotrajna obdobja fekalne kontaminacije pitne vode lahko pri uporabnikih povzročijo bolezen. Povezavo med slabo mikrobiološko kvaliteto pitne vode in boleznijo lahko hitro odkrijemo med ...hidričnimi izbruhi. Vpliv zaradi prisotnosti E.coli neskladnih vodnih vzorcev, odvzetih v okviru rednega monitoringa, na incidence akutnih gastroenterokolitisov še ni raziskan.
Even brief episodes of fecal contamination of drinking water can lead directly to illness in the consumers. In water-borne outbreaks, the connection between poor microbial water quality and disease ...can be quickly identified. The impact of non-compliant drinking water samples due to E. coli taken for regular monitoring on the incidence of notified acute gastrointestinal infections has not yet been studied.
The objective of this study was to analyse the geographical distribution of notified acute gastrointestinal infections (AGI) in Slovenia in 2010, with hotspot identification. The second aim of the study was to correlate the fecal contamination of water supply system on the settlement level with the distribution of notified AGI cases. Spatial analysis using geo-information technology and other methods were used.
Hot spots with the highest proportion of notified AGI cases were mainly identified in areas with small supply zones. The risk for getting AGI was drinking water contaminated with E. coli from supply zones with 50-1000 users: RR was 1.25 and significantly greater than one (p-value less than 0.001).
This study showed the correlation between the frequency of notified AGI cases and non-compliant results in drinking water monitoring.
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