Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;24(40):1900157.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.40.1900157.

Current practices for respiratory syncytial virus surveillance across the EU/EEA Member States, 2017

Madelief Mollers  1   2   3 , Céline Barnadas  2   3   4 , Eeva K Broberg  5 , Pasi Penttinen  5 ; European Influenza Surveillance Network  6 ; Anne C Teirlinck  1   3 , Thea K Fischer  4   7   3 ; Members of the European Influenza Surveillance network (EISN)
Collaborators, Affiliations

Current practices for respiratory syncytial virus surveillance across the EU/EEA Member States, 2017

Madelief Mollers et al. Euro Surveill. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

BackgroundRespiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major contributor to lower respiratory tract infections worldwide and several vaccine candidates are currently in development. Following vaccine introduction, reliable RSV surveillance should enable monitoring of vaccination impact. Data on the RSV disease burden in the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA) are sparse.AimThe aim of this study was to gather knowledge on current practices of national RSV surveillance in the EU/EEA.MethodsNational Coordinators and National Focal Points for Influenza (epidemiologists and virologists) from the EU/EEA countries (n = 31) were invited to participate in an online survey in August and September 2017. The questionnaire covered questions on epidemiological and laboratory aspects of RSV surveillance.ResultsAll EU/EEA countries except Liechtenstein replied to the survey. Eighteen countries reported to have a sentinel surveillance system, 26 countries a non-sentinel surveillance system and three countries to have neither. RSV data collection was mostly done within the context of influenza surveillance. A wide range of diagnostic and characterisation assays was used for the detection of RSV.DiscussionThe majority of EU/EEA countries have some surveillance for RSV in place. The prevailing integration of RSV surveillance into the existing influenza sentinel surveillance system may lead to under-reporting of RSV. The documented variations in existing RSV surveillance systems and their outputs indicate that there is scope for developing guidelines on establishing comparable methods and outcomes for RSV surveillance across the EU/EEA, to ensure the availability of a consistent evidence base for assessing future vaccination programmes.

Keywords: Europe; RSV; epidemiology; laboratory surveillance; non-sentinel surveillance; respiratory infections; respiratory syncytial virus; sentinel surveillance; surveillance; survey.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: The institutions of the following co-authors are partners in the Respiratory Syncytial Virus Consortium in Europe (RESCEU). Madelief Mollers, Anne Teirlinck, Adam Meijer (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, RIVM), Céline Barnadas, Thea Kølsen Fischer, Ramona Trebbien (Statens Serum Institute, SSI). RESCEU has received funding from the Innovative Medicines Initiative 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement 116019. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations.

The institutions of the following persons are affiliated partner in RESCEU: Outi Lyytikäinen, Niina Ikonen and Hanna Nohynek (Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Zsuzsanna Molnár and Mónika Rózsa (National Public Health Center (NPHC)), Siri Helene Hauge and Susanne G Dudman (Norwegian Institute of Public Health), Maja Socan (National Institute of Public Health Slovenia), Gé A Donker (Nivel, the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research), Raina Nikiforova (Centre for Disease Prevention and Control of Latvia), Natalija Zamjatina, Gatis Pakarna, Jelena Storozenko (RIGA east university hospital, Laboratory service, Latvian Centre of Infectious Diseases laboratory).

References

    1. Shi T, McAllister DA, O’Brien KL, Simoes EAF, Madhi SA, Gessner BD, et al. Global, regional, and national disease burden estimates of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children in 2015: a systematic review and modelling study. Lancet. 2017;390(10098):946-58. 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30938-8 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hall CB, Weinberg GA, Iwane MK, Blumkin AK, Edwards KM, Staat MA, et al. The burden of respiratory syncytial virus infection in young children. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(6):588-98. 10.1056/NEJMoa0804877 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Nair H, Nokes DJ, Gessner BD, Dherani M, Madhi SA, Singleton RJ, et al. Global burden of acute lower respiratory infections due to respiratory syncytial virus in young children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2010;375(9725):1545-55. 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60206-1 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Falsey AR, Hennessey PA, Formica MA, Cox C, Walsh EE. Respiratory syncytial virus infection in elderly and high-risk adults. N Engl J Med. 2005;352(17):1749-59. 10.1056/NEJMoa043951 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fleming DM, Taylor RJ, Lustig RL, Schuck-Paim C, Haguinet F, Webb DJ, et al. Modelling estimates of the burden of Respiratory Syncytial virus infection in adults and the elderly in the United Kingdom. BMC Infect Dis. 2015;15(1):443. 10.1186/s12879-015-1218-z - DOI - PMC - PubMed

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources