No 6/8 - 2018

Individually notified diseases 2017

The annual report includes the number of individually notifiable diseases with onset in 2017. The figures may be adjusted due to late notifications or new information. Totals for 2016 and the annual average for the 5-year period 2012-2016, with the lowest and highest number of annual cases during this period, are given for comparison.

No cases of haemorrhagic fever, group A meningococcal disease, plague, polio, rabies or rubella were notified.

See the annual report

(Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention)

Adaptation to the Danish childhood vaccination programme

The recommendations on the SSI website for adaptation to the Danish childhood vaccination programme have been updated.

The primary change concerns children of uncertain vaccination status in whom it may be necessary to measure diphtheria and tetanus antibodies. The SSI has taken over the analysis from a department that now forms part of AJ Vaccines A/S, and in this connection the methods of analysis have been changed and revalidated. At the same time, the tetanus protection threshold was increased from 0.01 to 0.02 kIU/L to avoid reporting of false positive results (kIU/L corresponds to the previously used IE/ml unit). The SSI has prepared flowcharts to assist the interpretation of results of the results based on the new threshold values, depending on whether the booster vaccine was given one month before sampling. For interpretation of antibody response, the following guidelines apply:

Diphtheria antibodies:
> 0.1 kIU/L: protected, next vaccination is given depending on the vaccination status. Please see the flow chart for help to interpret diphtheria antibody results.
0.01-0.1 kIU/L: protected to a limited extent. One or more vaccinations are recommended depending on the vaccination status. Please see the flow chart for help to interpret diphtheria antibody results.
< 0.01 kIU/L: Unprotected. This may be because the person has never received primary vaccination, or a very long time has passed since the person was last vaccinated. One or more vaccinations are recommended depending on the vaccination status.

Tetanus antibodies:
> 0.2 kIU/L: protected, next vaccination is given depending on the vaccination status. Please see the flow chart for help to interpret tetanus antibody results.
0.02-0.2 kIU/L: protected to a limited extent. One or more vaccinations are recommended depending on the vaccination status. Please see the flow chart for help to interpret tetanus antibody results.
< 0.02 IE/ml: the person is unprotected. This may be because the person has never received primary vaccination, or a very long time has passed since the person was last vaccinated. One or more vaccinations are recommended depending on the vaccination status.

(P. H. Andersen, L.K. Knudsen, Department of Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Prevention, C.S. Jørgensen, Department for Virus and Microbiological Special Diagnostics)

Recommendations for tetanus prophylaxis after wound injury

The SSI’s recommendations for tetanus prophylaxis after wound injury, based on EPI-NEWS 5b/15, have been revised slightly and are available in Danish at the SSI website under the pane “Vaccination” and the menu item “Efter eksposition” (Danish for: After exposure) . For specific risk assessment examples following wound injury, please see EPI-NEWS 5b/15.

(The Consultancy Team, Department of Infectious Epidemiology and Prevention)

Link to previous issues of EPI-NEWS

21 February 2018