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. 2024 Oct;29(41):2400645.
doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2024.29.41.2400645.

Enhanced laboratory surveillance of respiratory infection disclosed the rapid rise of enterovirus D68 cases, northern Italy, August to September 2024

Elena Pariani  1 , Antonio Piralla  2 , Laura Pellegrinelli  1 , Federica Giardina  3 , Vincenzo Navobi Porrello  4 , Greta Romano  2 , Cristina Galli  1 , Laura Sandri  1 , Guglielmo Ferrari  2 , Sandro Binda  1 , Luigi Vezzosi  5 , Gabriele Del Castillo  5 , Sabrina Buoro  5 , Danilo Cereda  5 , Fausto Baldanti  2   3 ; Respiratory viruses pandemic preparedness group Lombardy  6
Collaborators, Affiliations

Enhanced laboratory surveillance of respiratory infection disclosed the rapid rise of enterovirus D68 cases, northern Italy, August to September 2024

Elena Pariani et al. Euro Surveill. 2024 Oct.

Abstract

We report a considerable increase in enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) cases since July 2024, culminating in an ongoing outbreak of acute respiratory infections in northern Italy, accounting for nearly 90% of all enterovirus infections. The outbreak was identified by community- and hospital-based surveillance systems, detecting EV-D68 in individuals with mild-to-severe respiratory infections. These strains belonged to B3 and a divergent A2 lineage. An increase in adult cases was observed. Enhanced surveillance and molecular characterisation of EV-D68 across Europe are needed.

Keywords: Enterovirus; Enterovirus D68; influenza-like illness surveillance; laboratory surveillance; respiratory infections.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epidemic curve of enterovirus and enterovirus D68 cases in Lombardy, northern Italy, 4 September 2023 (week 36)–22 September 2024 (week 38) (n = 952)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maximum likelihood phylogenetic tree of complete coding sequence regions of enterovirus D68, 1962–2024 (n = 1,057)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Distribution of enterovirus D68 lineages in Lombardy, northern Italy, 1 January 2024 (week 1)–22 September 2024 (week 38) (n = 70)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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