Health status : 18. Selected communicable diseases (I) -

Following ECDC methodology (see preferred source and remarks): The total number of confirmed new cases of the disease in a specific year divided by the population of the country in question in the same year, expressed per 100 000 population (using Eurostat dataset ‘Population by sex and age on 1 January of each year’ for the calculation of the rate). Incidence is calculated for the following communicable diseases (see remarks for rationale selection): 1. Chlamydia, 2. Giardiasis, 3. Campylobacteriosis, 4. Salmonellosis, 5. Mumps, 6. Hepatitis A, 7. Invasive pneumococcal disease, 8. Hepatitis B, 9. Legionellosis, 10. Listeriosis, 11. E. Coli infections (VTEC, STEC, EHEC), 12. Yersiniosis

Relevant dimensions and subgroups

Calendar year
Country
Age group (0-24, 25-64, 65+)

Preferred data type and data source

Preferred data type

Surveillance reports

Preferred data source

ECDC

Data availability

As of 2007 ECDC publishes annual surveillance reports. The data reported are the data from year N-2 (so the 2009 report contains data from 2007). Data are reported for the EU27 and EEA/EFTA countries. Data are reported by age group (0–4, 5–14, 15–24, 25–44, 45–64, 65+), so preferred age groups as defined by ECHIM can be compiled from these.

Data periodicity

Annually

Rationale

Communicable diseases cause, or have the potential to cause, significant disease burden (morbidity and/or mortality). They are also diseases for which effective preventive measures are available with a protective health gain. Communicable diseases move across borders and therefore ask for sometimes rapid internationally based interventions.

Remarks

The ECHI shortlist contains a separate indicator on the vaccination coverage in children for major childhood diseases (see indicator 56. Vaccination coverage in children).
ECDC reports confirmed cases, i.e. the notification rate per 100,000 population. Generally this is a good proxy for incidence. However, in case of a disease with few symptoms, e.g. Chlamydia, people may not report to a doctor/nurse, and cases may be missed by routine surveillance systems. For such diseases the notification rate derived from routine surveillance systems will be (much) lower than the actual incidence rate.
Next to providing breakdowns by age, ECDC also reports distribution by sex and season.
Commission Decision 2002/253/EC of 19 March 2002 lays down the compulsory case definitions for reporting ± 40 communicable diseases. ECHIM and ECDC experts together have made a selection – based on the 2006 data – to be reported for this ECHI indicator. Inclusion criteria applied were: A) Vaccine preventable diseases; top 4 incidence, B) Non-vaccine preventable diseases; top 4 incidence, C) Clear upward trend in incidence. This selection needs to be revised at regular intervals (see work to do section).
Comparability of data between countries is limited due to different underlying national surveillance systems (e.g. obligatory vs. voluntary reporting).
Epidemiological data on reportable communicable diseases are uploaded by the Member States using ECDC’s online system for the collection of surveillance data (TESSy).

References

Work to do

Compare selection criteria once every 2 years with latest data available to see whether list of selected communicable diseases for this indicator is still accurate (next update to be done when 2008 data will be available).

European Commission - Public Health: healthindicators.org

Definition

Calculation