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•PCV10 and PCV13 protect similarly against invasive disease due to vaccine serotypes.•PCV13 provides direct protection against serotype 3 and vaccine-related serotype 6C.•PCV10 does not provide significant protection against vaccine-related serotypes 19A and 6C.•PCV13 effectiveness declined with time after booster, in particular for serotypes 3 and 19A.•Multinational networks are crucial for the evaluation of PCV15/ PCV20 that may be introduced. Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines covering 10 (PCV10) and 13 (PCV13) serotypes have been introduced in the infant immunization schedule of most European countries in 2010–11. To provide additional real-life data, we measured the effectiveness of PCV10 and PCV13 against invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) in children of 12 European sites (SpIDnet). We compared the vaccination status of PCV10 and PCV13 serotype IPD (cases) to that of nonPCV13 serotype IPD (controls) reported in 2012–2018. We calculated pooled effectiveness as (1-vaccination odds ratio)*100, and measured effectiveness over time since booster dose. The PCV13 and PCV10 studies included 2522 IPD cases from ten sites and 486 cases from four sites, respectively. The effectiveness of ≥ 1 PCV13 dose was 84.2% (95 %CI: 79.0–88.1) against PCV13 serotypes (n = 2353) and decreased from 93.1% (87.8–96.1) < 12 months to 85.1% (72.0–92.1) ≥ 24 months after booster dose. PCV13 effectiveness of ≥ 1 dose was 84.7% (55.7–94.7) against fatal PCV13 IPD, 64.5% (43.7–77.6), 83.2% (73.7–89.3) and 85.1% (67.6–93.1) against top serotypes 3, 19A and 1, respectively, and 85.4% (62.3–94.4) against 6C. Serotype 3 and 19A effectiveness declined more rapidly. PCV10 effectiveness of ≥ 1 dose was 84.8% (69.4–92.5) against PCV10 serotypes (n = 370), 27.2% (-187.6 to 81.6) and 85.3% (35.2–96.7) against top serotypes 1 and 7F, 32.5% (-28.3 to 64.5) and −14.4% (-526.5 to 79.1) against vaccine-related serotypes 19A and 6C, respectively. PCV10 and PCV13 provide similar protection against IPD due to the respective vaccine serotype groups but serotype-specific effectiveness varies by serotype and vaccine. PCV13 provided individual protection against serotype 3 and vaccine-related serotype 6C IPD. PCV10 effectiveness was not significant against vaccine-related serotypes 19A and 6C. PCV13 effectiveness declined with time after booster vaccination. This multinational study enabled measuring serotype-specific vaccine effectiveness with a precision rarely possible at the national level. Such large networks are crucial for the post-licensure evaluation of vaccines.

•Most cases of invasive meningococcal disease in Europe are caused by serogroup B.•The notification rate of serogroup B is highest among infants.•Routine MCC vaccination was the driving force behind the decreasing trend in SgC.•The notification rates of serogroups Y and W are increasing in some countries. Invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) is a major cause of bacterial meningitis and septicaemia although infection by some serogroups may be prevented through vaccination. We aimed to describe the epidemiology of IMD in EU/EEA countries during 2004–2014 to monitor serogroup- and age-specific trends, and compare country trends by the period of meningococcal C conjugate (MCC) vaccine introduction. We analysed IMD surveillance data by age, gender, serogroup, country and outcome. We estimated the percentage change in annual notification rate (NR), using linear regression analysis of the log of the annual NR. We grouped countries by the year they introduced MCC vaccination into their routine immunisation programmes. The overall NR was 0.9/100 000 population, and decreased 6.6% (95%CI: −8.0%;−5.1%) annually. Infants had the highest NR (16.0/100 000), and there were decreasing trends in all age groups <50years. Serogroup B (SgB) caused 74% of all cases, and the majority of cases in all age groups. There were decreasing trends in SgB and serogroup C (SgC) and an increasing trend in serogroup Y. Countries that introduced MCC vaccination before, and between 2004 and 2014, had decreasing trends in NR of SgC, but not countries without routine MCC vaccination. Our findings support evidence that routine MCC vaccination was the driving force behind the decreasing SgC trend. Vaccinating against SgB in the first year of life could help reduce the burden of IMD due to this serogroup. Changing serogroup-specific NR trends highlight the need for high-quality surveillance data to accurately assess the changing epidemiology of IMD, the effectiveness and impact of implemented vaccines, and the need for future vaccines.

We evaluated invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) during 8 years of infant pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) programs using 10-valent (PCV10) and 13-valent (PCV13) vaccines in 10 countries in Europe. IPD incidence declined during 2011-2014 but increased during 2015-2018 in all age groups. From the 7-valent PCV period to 2018, IPD incidence declined by 42% in children <5 years of age, 32% in persons 5-64 years of age, and 7% in persons >65 years of age; non-PCV13 serotype incidence increased by 111%, 63%, and 84%, respectively, for these groups. Trends were similar in countries using PCV13 or PCV10, despite different serotype distribution. In 2018, serotypes in the 15-valent and 20-valent PCVs represented one third of cases in children <5 years of age and two thirds of cases in persons >65 years of age. Non-PCV13 serotype increases reduced the overall effect of childhood PCV10/PCV13 programs on IPD. New vaccines providing broader serotype protection are needed.

Pertussis is increasing in frequency among children too young to be vaccinated and among adolescents and adults. This increase is due mainly to waning immunity among vaccinated individuals, who become susceptible during adolescence and adulthood and maintain the circulation of Bordetella pertussis. Infants are at highest risk of severe illness requiring hospital admission, complications and death. The clinical presentation in adolescents, adults and vaccinated individuals may be atypical, with paroxysmal cough of short duration or simply a persistent cough. Culture and polymerase chain reaction may be used to identify B. pertussis infection, but their sensitivity is high only in the early phase of the disease. Serologic tests are not standardized for the diagnosis of pertussis, and their clinical application is limited. Erythromycin is still considered in some countries to be the \"gold standard\" for therapy and prophylaxis; however, azithromycin and clarithromycin seem equally efficacious and are associated with fewer side effects.

•Good health is essential for active ageing.•Childhood diseases are becoming diseases of the adults.•A holistic approach is needed when assessing the value of vaccination.•The shift from childhood to life-long vaccination is essential to promote healthy ageing.•Key actions with a European multidisciplinary network to promote vaccination of 50+ appear mandatory. The proportion of the population ≥65 years old is about 17% today and will be about 27% in 2050 worldwide. The problem, however, is not ageing in itself, it is individual disabilities associated with ageing. This manuscript summarizes the consensus points reached during a pan-European meeting on gaps and barriers in making vaccination of adults aged 50+ a reality and on further joint actions in Europe. The shift from childhood to life-long vaccination is essential to prevent disability, morbidity and mortality in the elderly and promote healthy ageing. This vaccination shift is a major challenge in the post-truth, media-based era in countries with dwindling resources for the provision of healthcare. The challenge can be met only by adopting an innovative approach designed to shift the mindset of decision-makers from treatment to prevention. A number of key actions are required and for these actions a European multidisciplinary network including health authorities, medical doctors with different specialties, sociologists, psychologists, pharmaceutical companies and Associations of patients appears mandatory.

•The world is very close to poliomyelitis eradication: only 37 cases confirmed in 2016.•Europe is polio free from more than 20years, but still there are consistent polio immunization gaps in clustered population groups.•Immigration from polio at risk countries and high concentration of poliovirus manipulating laboratories require maintenance of a careful surveillance.•National plans to respond to a poliovirus introduction are urgently needed for European countries.•Poliovirus containment is still a challenge for European countries that host large amount of Sabin poliovirus containing materials. The world was never so close to reach the polio eradication: only 37 cases notified in 2016 in only three countries, but the game is not yet at the end. The risk of polio outbreaks in the EU is smaller than it has ever been in the past, but it is not so small that we can ignore it. The EU MS must remain alert and plan and prepare for managing polio events or outbreaks because of the possible dire consequences. The IPV only vaccination schedule universally applied in EU has achieved satisfactory coverage, but constantly leaving small accumulating pockets of susceptible individuals. Moreover the IPV only schedule is not an absolute barrier against poliovirus silent transmission as demonstrated in the recent Israel outbreak. The availability of annually revised S.O.P. from WHO GPEI on the identification and response of a polio event, without local poliovirus transmission or a polio outbreak with sustained transmission, helps and challenge EU countries to update their polio national preparedness plans. The EU/EEA area, in fact, is a peculiar area regarding the polio risk both for its vaccination policy, the large polio vaccines manufactures and the constant immigration from areas at polio high risk, but also EU include cultural and financial potentials crucial to sustain the polio end game strategy and reach the benefit of a world without polio risk. Poliovirus eradication will continue to be challenged as long as there is the worldwide presence of polioviruses in laboratories and vaccine production plants. Most of the world’s OPV vaccines are produced in the EU and many laboratories and research centers store and handle polio viruses. EU Member States are engaged actively in implementing the poliovirus biocontainment plans that are part of the polio eradication strategy and to certify the destruction of poliovirus strains and potentially contaminated biological materials.

Importantly, in addition to vaccinating Syrian refugees, ECDC has invited European Member States to assess their national vaccination coverage against polio (we estimate that 12 million residents in the European Union younger than 30 years are unvaccinated), detect areas at risk, and to engage in complementary action, especially among vulnerable groups living in poor sanitary conditions, recommend to travellers to areas with WPV circulation to ensure they have an updated polio vaccination status, enhance their surveillance system based on the requirements established by the Regional Certification Commission for Polio Eradication,4 strengthen their existing environmental and enterovirus surveillance to complement acute flaccid paralysis surveillance (with the present suboptimum quality of EU polio surveillance systems it is probable that WPV circulation is not promptly detected), assess their laboratory capacity, and to update their preparedness plans for polio outbreaks.

Objectives: To investigate the knowledge of the risk of HIV vertical transmission as well as the feeling about the new therapy in reducing that rate. Methods: We included 152 HIV-infected women. A self reported questionnaire was administered from September to December 2000. Results: About the risk rate of transmitting HIV to their baby, 21 (13.8%) women indicated 100%; 67 (44.1%) 50-80%; 35 (23%) 10-50% and only 22 women (14.5%) answered the correct value of less than 5%. Regarding the effect of highly active antiretroviral therapy, 82 women (53.9%) considered therapy effective in reducing vertical HIV transmission, while 63 women (41.4%) considered therapy powerless in preventing mother to child HIV transmission. Any statistically significant difference in sociodemographic, clinical, viroimmunological characteristics and antiretroviral therapy emerged between the groups. Conclusions: Our data highlight the importance of providing appropriate counselling about perinatal HIV transmission to all childbearing age HIV infected women.

Healthcare workers (HCWs) are often referred to as the most trusted source of vaccine-related information for their patients. However, the evidence suggests that a number of HCWs are vaccine-hesitant. This study consists of 65 semi-structured interviews with vaccine providers in Croatia, France, Greece, and Romania to investigate concerns HCWs might have about vaccination. The results revealed that vaccine hesitancy is present in all four countries among vaccine providers. The most important concern across all countries was the fear of vaccine side effects. New vaccines were singled out due to perceived lack of testing for vaccine safety and efficacy. Furthermore, while high trust in health authorities was expressed by HCWs, there was also strong mistrust of pharmaceutical companies due to perceived financial interests and lack of communication about side effects. The notion that it is a doctor’s responsibility to respond to hesitant patients was reported in all countries. Concerns were also seen to be country- and context-specific. Strategies to improve confidence in vaccines should be adapted to the specific political, social, cultural and economic context of countries. Furthermore, while most interventions focus on education and improving information about vaccine safety, effectiveness, or the need for vaccines, concerns raised in this study identify other determinants of hesitancy that need addressing. The representativeness of the views of the interviewed HCWs must be interpreted with caution. This a qualitative study with a small sample size that included geographical areas where vaccination uptake was lower or where hesitancy was more prevalent and it reflects individual participants’ beliefs and attitudes toward the topic. As HCWs have the potential of influencing patient vaccination uptake, it is crucial to improve their confidence in vaccination and engage them in activities targeting vaccine hesitancy among their patients.

•We analyse data from the first European IPD enhanced surveillance in the post-PCV7 era.•In 2010 IPD notification rates were highest among children <1 and adults ≥65 years.•The most common serotypes were 19A, 1, 7F, 3, 14, 22F, 8, 4, 12F and 19F.•Non-susceptibility to erythromycin was highest at 17.6% followed by penicillin at 8.9%.•In children <5 years PCV7 serotype coverage was 19.2%, PCV10 46.1% and PCV13 73.1%. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of severe infectious diseases worldwide. This paper presents the results from the first European invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) enhanced surveillance where additional and valuable data were reported and analysed. Following its authorisation in Europe in 2001 for use in children aged between two months and five years, the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) was progressively introduced in the European Union (EU)/European Economic Area (EEA) countries, albeit with different schemes and policies. In mid-2010 European countries started to switch to a higher valency vaccine (PCV10/PCV13), still without a significant impact by the time of this surveillance. Therefore, this surveillance provides an overview of baseline data from the transition period between the introduction of PCV7 and the implementation of PCV10/PCV13. In 2010, 26 EU/EEA countries reported 21 565 cases of IPD to The European Surveillance System (TESSy) applying the EU 2008 case definition. Serotype was determined in 9946/21565 (46.1%) cases. The most common serotypes were 19A, 1, 7F, 3, 14, 22F, 8, 4, 12F and 19F, accounting for 5949/9946 (59.8%) of the serotyped isolates. Data on antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST) in the form of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were submitted for penicillin 5384/21565 (25.0%), erythromycin 4031/21565 (18.7%) and cefotaxime 5252/21565 (24.4%). Non-susceptibility to erythromycin was highest at 17.6% followed by penicillin at 8.9%. PCV7 serotype coverage among children <5 years in Europe, was 19.2%; for the same age group, the serotype coverage for PCV10 and PCV13 were 46.1% and 73.1%, respectively. In the era of pneumococcal conjugate vaccines, the monitoring of changing trends in antimicrobial resistance and serotype distribution are essential in assessing the impact of vaccines and antibiotic use control programmes across European countries.