Non-pharmaceutical interventions in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 30 European countries: the ECDC-JRC Response Measures Database.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Union/European Economic Area (EU/EEA) countries implemented a wide set of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs), sometimes with limited knowledge on their effect and impact on population. The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) developed a Response Measures Database (ECDC-JRC RMD) to archive NPIs in 30 EU/EEA countries from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2022. We aimed to introduce a tool for the wider scientific community to assess COVID-19 NPIs effect and impact in the EU/EEA. We give an overview of the ECDC-JRC RMD rationale and structure, including a brief analysis of the main NPIs applied in 2020, before the roll-out of the COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. The ECDC-JRC RMD organises NPIs through a three-level hierarchical structure and uses four additional parameters ('status', 'implementation', 'target group' and 'geographical representation') to provide further information on the implementation of each measure. Features including the ready-for-analysis, downloadable format and its agile taxonomy and structure highlight the potential of the ECDC-JRC RMD to facilitate further NPI analysis and optimise decision making on public health response policies.

Public health considerations for transitioning beyond the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in the EU/EEA.

Many countries, including some within the EU/EEA, are in the process of transitioning from the acute pandemic phase. During this transition, it is crucial that countries' strategies and activities remain guided by clear COVID-19 control objectives, which increasingly will focus on preventing and managing severe outcomes. Therefore, attention must be given to the groups that are particularly vulnerable to severe outcomes of SARS-CoV-2 infection, including individuals in congregate and healthcare settings. In this phase of pandemic management, a strong focus must remain on transitioning testing approaches and systems for targeted surveillance of COVID-19, capitalising on and strengthening existing systems for respiratory virus surveillance. Furthermore, it will be crucial to focus on lessons learned from the pandemic to enhance preparedness and to enact robust systems for the preparedness, detection, rapid investigation and assessment of new and emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Filling existing knowledge gaps, including behavioural insights, can help guide the response to future resurgences of SARS-CoV-2 and/or the emergence of other pandemics. Finally, 'vaccine agility' will be needed to respond to changes in people's behaviours, changes in the virus, and changes in population immunity, all the while addressing issues of global health equity.

Severity of the clinical presentation of hepatitis A in five European countries from 1995 to 2014.

OBJECTIVES: We analysed hepatitis A (HepA) notifications and hospitalisations in Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden for available periods between 1995 and 2014. We aimed to investigate whether decreasing HepA incidence is associated with increasing age at infection and worsening HepA presentation and to identify groups at risk of severe disease. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study including 36 734 notified and 36 849 hospitalised patients. We used negative binomial regressions to identify over time: i) trends in hospitalisation and notification rates; ii) proportion of hospitalised and notified patients aged ≥40 years; iii) proportion of "severe hospitalisations"; and iv) risk factors for severe hospitalisation. RESULTS: During the study period both HepA notifications and hospitalisations decreased, with notification rates decreasing faster, patients aged ≥40 years increased, however, the proportion of severe HepA hospitalisations remained stable. Older patients and patients with comorbidities, particularly liver diseases, were more likely to experience severe disease. CONCLUSIONS: We used digitalised health information to confirm decreasing trends in HepA hospitalisations and notifications, and the increasing age of patients with HepA in Europe. We did not identify an increase in the severity of the clinical presentation of patients with HepA. Older patients with liver diseases are at increased risk of severe disease and should be prioritised for vaccination.