title: Meningococcal serogroup Y emergence in Europe: high importance in some European regions in 2012.
abstract: Neisseria meningitidis is differentiated into 12 distinct serogroups, of which A, B, C, W, X, and Y are medically most important and represent an important health problem in different parts of the world. The epidemiology of N. meningitidis is unpredictable over time and across geographic regions. Recent epidemiological surveillance has indicated an increase of serogroup Y invasive meningococcal disease in some parts of Europe as shown in the epidemiological data for 2010 and 2011 from various European countries previously published in this journal. (1)(,) (2) Here, data from 33 European countries is reported indicating that the emergence of serogroup Y continued in 2012 in various regions of Europe, especially in Scandinavia, while in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe the importance of serogroup Y remained low.
authors.affiliation: Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics GmbH; Marburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bröker
authors.affiliation: University Hospital for Infectious Diseases Dr. Fran Mihaljević; Zagreb, Croatia.
authors.forename: Suzana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bukovski
authors.affiliation: Center for Microbiology; Haemophilus and Meningococcus Reference Laboratory; Institute for Public Health; Srbija, Serbia.
authors.forename: Davor
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Culic
authors.affiliation: Örebro University Hospital; Örebro, Sweden.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jacobsson
authors.affiliation: Ministry of Health; Unit for Surveillance and Control of Communicable Diseases; Nikosia, Cyprus.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koliou
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare; Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuusi
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Saúde Dr. Ricardo Jorge; Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria João
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.affiliation: National Reference Center for Bacterial Meningitis; National Medicines Institute; Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Skoczynska
authors.affiliation: National Institute for Health and Welfare; Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Maija
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Toropainen
authors.affiliation: Institut Pasteur; Invasive Bacterial Infectious Unit; Paris, France.
authors.forename: Muhamed-Keir
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Taha
authors.affiliation: National Meningitis Reference Laboratory; National School of Public Health; Athens, Greece.
authors.forename: Georgina
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tzanakaki
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005060:Europe / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008589:Meningococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D038581:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup Y / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D019371:Topography, Medical
keywords: Europe; epidemiology; invasive meningococcal disease; meningococcal vaccines; serogroup Y; surveillance