Abstract
The Seventh International Meeting of the European Laboratory Working Group on Diphtheria (ELWGD) was held in Vienna, Austria in June 2002 and brought together the microbiologists and epidemiologists responsible for diphtheria in many countries throughout the world. The ELWGD was formed in 1993 in response to the epidemics of diphtheria in Russia and the Newly Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union (1,2). These epidemics, and others elsewhere, highlighted the importance of strengthening and maintaining both epidemiological surveillance and reliable laboratory screening. Since December 2001, these areas have been progressed and strengthened by European Commission (EC) funding to undertake a feasibility study for diphtheria surveillance amongst European Union (EU) member states and accession countries, and to establish a definitive and official European diphtheria surveillance network called DIPNET (EC DG SANCO Agreement No. S12.324473 (2001 CVG4-012)). This was the first international meeting of the ELWGD to be organised and funded under the auspice of the DIPNET (European Diphtheria Surveillance Network).
Highlights
In mid-2002, the Nationale Referenzzentrale für Salmonellen (NRCS) noticed a regional cluster of human Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica ser
This report summarises the presentations given at this meeting which provided an interesting overview of the surveillance of diphtheria within the Russian Federation and Newly Independent States (NIS) as well as the European Union (EU) member states and accession countries, a review of the clinical and microbiological aspects of infection caused by corynebacteria, and an update on recent studies on the molecular and genetic characteristics of Corynebacterium diphtheriae and C. ulcerans
The recent epidemic of diphtheria in the NIS began in the Russian Federation in 1990 and affected all 12 NIS by the end of 1994 (7)
Summary
Le septième Congrès international du Groupe deTravail Européen sur la Diphtérie – Vienne, juin 2002. Cet article résume les discussions tenues lors de ce congrès, donnant une vue d’ensemble de la surveillance de la diphtérie au sein de la Fédération de Russie et des ENI, ainsi que des pays membres de l’UE et des pays candidats. Certaines régions semblent avoir une incidence plus élevée que d’autres : ainsi, au cours des dernières années, le nombre de cas de diphtérie déclaré a augmenté dans la région de Smolensk en Fédération de Russie. Depuis 2000, la plupart des cas de diphtérie sont liés à la souche C. diphtheriae de variété mitis, ribotype Otchakov. En avril 1993, le premier cas de diphtérie importé depuis près de trente ans a été identifié en Finlande et attribué à la souche toxigène C. diphtheriae, variété gravis. Immunisation of the booster vaccine to the adult population has begun in this region, but it seems that ribotype Otchakov may present a new public health threat in the future
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