Annual Epidemiological Report On Communicable Diseases In Europe 2010

This report presents the analysis of data reported for 2008 by the 27 EU Member States and three EEA/EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The main aim of this report is to provide some indication, based on the available data, of where the main burden of communicable diseases now lies in the European Union. In these areas, more concerted action is required in order to decrease the present and potential future burden on society, on public health and healthcare systems, and to reduce human suffering. These data contribute to ECDC's task of providing the evidence-base for action, to help identify and share practices, and to suggest methods for follow-up of interventions. Although there has been much progress in improving the quality and comparability of the data, the reader is still cautioned against making direct comparisons of the notification rates between countries. Surveillance systems differ widely, and the relationship between reported or notified and actual incidence varies from country to country for many diseases. For the first time the annual Analysis of Threats monitored in the EU is being reported separately. Possible readership: Public health officials, health professionals, policy makers, surveillance experts.