Index case smoking increases the risk of LTBI and should be systematically investigated. A reduction in smoking could lower the risk of infection substantially.

ObjectiveThe Plan of Information on Acute Respiratory Infections in Catalonia (PIDIRAC) included the surveillance of severe hospitalized cases of laboratory-confirmed influenza (SHCLCI) in 2009. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical, epidemiological and virological features of SHCLCI recorded in 12 sentinel hospitals during five influenza seasons.ResultsFrom a sample of SHCLCI recorded during the 5 influenza epidemics seasons from 2010–2011 to 2014–2015, Cases were confirmed by PCR and/or viral isolation in cell cultures from respiratory samples. A total of 1400 SHCLCI were recorded, 33% required ICU admission and 12% died. The median age of cases was 61 years (range 0–101 years); 70.5% were unvaccinated; 80.4% received antiviral treatment (in 79.6 and 24% of cases within 48 h after hospital admission and the onset of symptoms, respectively); influenza virus A [37.9% A (H1N1)pdm09, 29.3% A (H3N2)] was identified in 87.7% of cases. Surveillance of SHCLCI provides an estimate of the severity of seasonal influenza epidemics and the identification and characterization of at-risk groups in order to facilitate preventive measures such as vaccination and early antiviral treatment.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-018-3349-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

In May 2015, following a 30-year diphtheria-free interval in Catalonia, an unvaccinated 6-year-old child was diagnosed with diphtheria caused by toxigenic Corynebacterium diphtheriae. After a difficult search for equine-derived diphtheria antitoxin (DAT), the child received the DAT 4 days later but died at the end of June. Two hundred and seventeen contacts were identified in relation to the index case, and their vaccination statuses were analysed, updated and completed. Of these, 140 contacts underwent physical examination and throat swabs were taken from them for analysis. Results were positive for toxigenic C. diphtheriae in 10 contacts; nine were asymptomatic vaccinated children who had been in contact with the index case and one was a parent of one of the nine children. Active surveillance of the 217 contacts was initiated by healthcare workers from hospitals and primary healthcare centres, together with public health epidemiological support. Lack of availability of DAT was an issue in our case. Such lack could be circumvented by the implementation of an international fast-track procedure to obtain it in a timely manner. Maintaining primary vaccination coverage for children and increasing booster-dose immunisation against diphtheria in the adult population is of key importance.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic could have negative effects on tuberculosis (TB) control. The objective was to assess the impact of the pandemic in contact tracing and latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) in contacts of patients with pulmonary TB in Catalonia (Spain). Methods Contact tracing was carried out in cases of pulmonary TB detected during 14 months in the prepandemic period (1/1/2019 to 28/2/2020) and 14 months in the pandemic period (1/3/2020 to 30/4/2021). Contacts received the tuberculin skin test and/or interferon gamma release assay and it was determined whether they had TB or LTBI. Variables associated with TB or LTBI in contacts (study period and sociodemographic variables) were analyzed using adjusted odds ratio OR (aOR) and the 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results The pre-pandemic and pandemic periods showed, respectively: 503 and 255 pulmonary TB reported cases (reduction of 50.7%); and 4676 and 1687 contacts studied (reduction of 36.1%). In these periods the proportion of TB cases among the contacts was 1.9% (84/4307) and 2.2% (30/1381) (p = 0.608); and the proportion of LTBI was 25.3% (1090/4307) and 29.2% (403/1381) (p < 0.001). The pandemic period was associated to higher LTBI proportion (aOR=1.3; 95%CI 1.1-1.5), taking into account the effect on LTBI of the other variables studied as sex, age, household contact and migrant status. Conclusions COVID-19 is affecting TB control due to less exhaustive TB and LTBI case detection. An increase in LTBI was observed during the pandemic period. Efforts should be made to improve detection of TB and LTBI among contacts of TB cases.

No abstract