Enterovirus infections in England and Wales, 2000–2011: the impact of increased molecular diagnostics
There have recently been significant changes in diagnostic practices for detecting enterovirus (EV) infections across England and Wales. Reports of laboratory-confirmed EV infections submitted by National Health Service (NHS) hospital laboratories to Public Health England (PHE) over a 12-year period...
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Published in | Clinical microbiology and infection Vol. 20; no. 12; pp. 1289 - 1296 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Elsevier Ltd
01.12.2014
Elsevier Limited |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | There have recently been significant changes in diagnostic practices for detecting enterovirus (EV) infections across England and Wales. Reports of laboratory-confirmed EV infections submitted by National Health Service (NHS) hospital laboratories to Public Health England (PHE) over a 12-year period (2000–2011) were analysed. Additionally, the PHE Virus Reference Department (VRD) electronic database containing molecular typing data from 2004 onwards was interrogated. Of the 13 901 reports, there was a decline from a peak of 2254 in 2001 to 589 in 2006, and then an increase year-on-year to 1634 in 2011. This increase coincided with increasing PCR-based laboratory diagnosis, which accounted for 36% of reported cases in 2000 and 92% in 2011. The estimated annual incidence in 2011 was 3.9/100 000 overall and 238/100 000 in those aged <3 months, who accounted for almost one-quarter of reported cases (n = 2993, 23%). During 2004–2011, 2770 strains were submitted for molecular typing to the VRD, who found no evidence for a predominance of any particular strain. Thus, the recent increase in reported cases closely reflects the increase in PCR testing by NHS hospitals, but is associated with a lower proportion of samples being submitted for molecular typing. The high EV rate in young infants merits further investigation to inform evidence-based management guidance. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 1198-743X 1469-0691 |
DOI: | 10.1111/1469-0691.12753 |