[The global measles crisis-a diversity of causes from armed conflicts to vaccination skepticism]. / Die globale Masernkrise ­ Ursachenvielfalt von bewaffneten Konflikten bis Impfskepsis.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Despite a safe and effective vaccine being available for many years, the number of measles cases has been increasing again worldwide since 2018. Our report aims to identify putative reasons for this development. METHODS: We conducted a selective literature search. Further, current reports and data from the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank were evaluated. RESULTS: According to the WHO, Madagascar, the Ukraine, and Israel had the highest incidences of measles worldwide between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019. Measles outbreaks are a sign of inadequate vaccination rates caused by multiple structural and psychological barriers. Structural barriers to measles vaccination, such as a lack of routine vaccination programs, have been identified as the main cause of low measles vaccination rates, particularly in fragile countries e.g. due to armed conflicts, but also in some subpopulations of higher-income countries e.g. due to lacking resources for vaccination services. Psychological barriers leading to vaccination skepticism were prevalent mainly in developed countries with well-functioning health systems and a high standard of living. CONCLUSION: The reasons for the global measles crisis are manifold and in some cases have existed for decades. However, the consequences appear to be accumulating and have had a dramatic impact on case numbers since 2018. The goal of measles elimination and maintenance of the necessary vaccination programs is a constant challenge that requires strict and permanent compliance with WHO recommendations. The number of measles cases reported in Germany is still at a level above the key target for measles elimination specified in the national immunization plan. Timely and/or locally restricted as well as nationwide outbreaks continue to occur. Since infectious agents can be transmitted across borders, the international perspective is an essential component of national health policy in Germany.

Risk factors for MRSA infection in companion animals: results from a case-control study within Germany.

Increasing numbers of companion animals suffering from infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been reported in the recent past. These infections are of particular concern because of the limited treatment options for MRSA and their transferability to humans. Since MRSA lineages isolated from infected companion animals often mirror typical human epidemic strains circulating in the same region, successful strategies to combat MRSA need strong and coordinated efforts from both, the human and the veterinary field according to the "One Health" concept. Hence, to identify potential risk factors related to MRSA infections in dogs, cats and horses, a case-control study was conducted, including data on 106 MRSA-infected animal patients as cases and 102 MSSA-infected animals as controls, originating from 155 different veterinary settings within Germany. Demographic data on animal patients, patient history and administration of antibiotics as well as practice/clinic specific parameters were assessed as putative risk factors. Multivariable logistic regression identified the following variables as risk factors for MRSA infection compared to MSSA infection: number of employees working at the veterinary setting (n>10; p<0.001), antibiotic treatment prior to sampling (systemic: p=0.002; local: p=0.049, both: p=0.011) and surgical site infection (p<0.001). Spa typing revealed predominantly clonal complexes well-known for hospital-associated lineages spreading in human health-care settings in Germany (CC5 and CC22) for isolates of dog and cat origin. CC398-MRSA dominated among equine isolates, a CC that was described as a nosocomial pathogen in equine clinical settings before. The identified risk factors and genotyping results are in accordance with numerous study outcomes from the field of human medicine and point towards reasonable problems with nosocomial spread of MRSA, especially within companion animal veterinary clinics. To define targeted infection control strategies against nosocomial pathogens, it is important to accomplish intervention studies addressing routes of transmission in companion animal veterinary settings.

Characteristics and risk factors for symptomatic Giardia lamblia infections in Germany.

BACKGROUND: In developed countries, giardiasis is considered a travel related disease. However, routine surveillance data from Germany indicate that >50% of infections were acquired indigenously. We studied the epidemiological characteristics of symptomatic Giardia infections acquired in Germany and abroad, and verified the proportion of cases acquired in Germany in order to investigate risk factors for sporadic autochthonous Giardia infections. METHODS: We identified Giardia cases notified by 41 local health authorities between February 2007 and January 2008 and interviewed them on their clinical symptoms, underlying morbidities, travel abroad and potential risk factors for the disease. We conducted a case-control-study including laboratory-confirmed (microscopy or antigen-test) autochthonous Giardia cases with clinical manifestations (diarrhoea, cramps, bloating) and randomly selected controls from the local population registry matched by county of residence and age-group (0-5, 6-19, > or =20 years). Secondary cases, controls with diarrhoea and persons who had travelled outside Germany in the three weeks prior to disease onset (exposure period) were excluded. We calculated adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) using conditional logistic regression. RESULTS: Of 273 interviewed cases, 131 (48%) had not travelled abroad during the defined exposure period. Of these 131, 85 (65%) were male, 68 (54%) were living in communities with >100,000 inhabitants and 107 (83%) were aged 20 years or older. We included 120 cases and 240 controls in the case-control study. Cases were more likely to be male (aOR 2.5 CI 1.4-4.4), immunocompromised (aOR 15.3 CI 1.8-127) and daily consumers of green salad (aOR 2.9 CI 1.2-7.2). Contact with animals (pets/farm animals) and exposure to surface water (swimming/water sports) were not associated with symptomatic disease. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of Giardia lamblia cases in Germany are indigenously acquired. Symptomatic cases are significantly more likely to be immunocompromised than control persons from the general population. Physicians should consider Giardia infections among patients with no recent history of travel abroad, particularly if they have immune deficiencies. Green salads may be an important vehicle of infection. Information campaigns highlighting this food-borne risk should emphasise the risk to persons with immune deficiencies.

Resurgence of field fever in a temperate country: an epidemic of leptospirosis among seasonal strawberry harvesters in Germany in 2007.

BACKGROUND: Although leptospirosis is a reemerging zoonosis of global importance, outbreaks related to agricultural exposures are primarily situated in tropical countries. In July 2007, a suspected leptospirosis outbreak was recognized among strawberry harvesters from Eastern Europe who were working in Germany. An investigation was initiated to identify the outbreak source and the risk factors for infection. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study with use of a questionnaire administered to harvesters by health authorities in Romania, Slovakia, and Poland. Collected serum samples were tested by microscopic agglutination test and immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A case patient was defined as a person who worked in the strawberry field during the period 5 June-8 September 2007 and had leptospirosis-compatible symptoms and either an antibody titer 1:800 and a positive immunoglobulin M enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay result (for a confirmed case) or no serological confirmation (for a suspected case). Local rodents were examined for leptospirosis. RESULTS: Among 153 strawberry harvesters, we detected 13 confirmed case patients who had test results positive for antibodies against Leptospira species serogroup Grippotyphosa and 11 suspected case patients (attack rate, 16%). Risk of disease increased with each day that an individual worked in the rain with hand wounds (odds ratio, 1.1; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.14) and accidental rodent contact (odds ratio, 4.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.5-15.9). Leptospires of the serogroup Grippotyphosa were isolated from the kidneys of 7 (64%) of 11 voles. CONCLUSIONS: This is, to our knowledge, the largest leptospirosis epidemic to occur in Germany since the 1960s. Contact between hand lesions and contaminated water or soil and infected voles was the most likely outbreak source. The unusually warm winter of 2006-2007 supported vole population growth and contributed to this resurgence of leptospirosis in Germany. Because of ongoing climate change, heightened awareness of leptospirosis in temperate regions is warranted.

The zoonotic potential of Clostridium difficile from small companion animals and their owners.

BACKGROUND: Clostridium difficile infections (CDI) in humans range from asymptomatic carriage to life-threatening intestinal disease. Findings on C. difficile in various animal species and an overlap in ribotypes (RTs) suggest potential zoonotic transmission. However, the impact of animals for human CDI remains unclear. METHODS: In a large-scale survey we collected 1,447 fecal samples to determine the occurrence of C. difficile in small companion animals (dogs and cats) and their owners and to assess potential epidemiological links within the community. The Germany-wide survey was conducted from July 2012-August 2013. PCR ribotyping, Multilocus VNTR Analysis (MLVA) and PCR detection of toxin genes were used to characterize isolated C. difficile strains. A database was defined and logistic regression used to identify putative factors associated with fecal shedding of C. difficile. RESULTS: In total, 1,418 samples met the inclusion criteria. The isolation rates for small companion animals and their owners within the community were similarly low with 3.0% (25/840) and 2.9% (17/578), respectively. PCR ribotyping revealed eight and twelve different RTs in animals and humans, respectively, whereas three RTs were isolated in both, humans and animals. RT 014/0, a well-known human hospital-associated lineage, was predominantly detected in animal samples. Moreover, the potentially highly pathogenic RTs 027 and 078 were isolated from dogs. Even though, C. difficile did not occur simultaneously in animals and humans sharing the same household. The results of the epidemiological analysis of factors associated with fecal shedding of C. difficile support the hypothesis of a zoonotic potential. CONCLUSIONS: Molecular characterization and epidemiological analysis revealed that the zoonotic risk for C. difficile associated with dogs and cats within the community is low but cannot be excluded.

Molecular phylogeny of a novel human adenovirus type 8 strain causing a prolonged, multi-state keratoconjunctivitis epidemic in Germany.

The German infectious disease surveillance system revealed an increase of epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC) from an average of 320 cases/year (2001 to 2010) up to 2146 and 1986 cases in 2012 and 2013, respectively. From November 2011 until December 2013 (epidemic period) 85% of typed isolates were human adenovirus type 8 (HAdV-D8), whereas only low level circulation (19%) of HAdV-D8 was observed outside the epidemic period. In order to investigate whether a novel monophyletic HAdV-D8 strain prevailed during the epidemic period, complete genomic sequences of 23 HAdV-D8 isolates were generated by deep sequencing and analyzed phylogenetically. For comparison, eight HAdV-D8 isolates from outside the epidemic period were sequenced. HAdV-D8 isolates of the epidemic period had a very high sequence identity of at least 99.9% and formed a monophyletic cluster with two subclusters. A single outlier was closely related to HAdV-D8 strains isolated prior to the epidemic period. Circulation of the epidemic strain was detected as early as 2010 but not after the epidemic period in 2014. In conclusion, molecular phylogeny of complete genomic sequences proved a monophyletic HAdV-D8 epidemic. However, co-circulation of other HAdV types as well as better reporting may have contributed to the huge increase of reported cases.

Persistence of nasal colonisation with methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus CC398 among participants of veterinary conferences and occurrence among their household members: A prospective cohort study, Germany 2008-2014.

There are only few data on the persistence and transmission of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) of the clonal complex (CC) 398 among veterinarians and their household members. We therefore investigated the long-term colonisation with MRSA CC398 among participants of veterinary conferences in Germany in 2008/2009 and their household members. Forty-five initially MRSA CC398 positive and 180 initially MRSA CC398 negative conference participants were included in a longitudinal study. These persons and their household members were tested for nasal colonisation in 2011, 2012 and 2014. Of 31 continuously tested and initially MRSA CC398 positive participants only 8 (26%) were colonized with MRSA CC398at all 4 time points, 4 (13%) of them consistently with the same spa type. Among initially MRSA CC398 negative participants, 13 (7%) were tested MRSA CC398 positive at least once during the follow-up period. Data for household members at least at one time point were available for 185 households. Of these 21 (11%) households had one or more household member who tested positive for MRSA CC398at least once. The odds of household members to be MRSA CC398 positive was 12 times higher (95% confidence interval 4-37) when the conference participant tested MRSA CC398 positive in 2008/2009. This association remained strong when household members working in veterinary medicine or livestock farms were excluded. In summary, these data suggest that colonisation with MRSA CC398 is partially transient and that household members of MRSA CC398 colonized persons are at an increased risk of colonisation with MRSA CC398.

A survey of outpatient antibiotic prescribing for cystitis.

BACKGROUND: In view of the currently increasing rates of antibiotic resistance, we studied the factors that affect the prescribing of specific antibiotics for uncomplicated cystitis in outpatient care. METHODS: A nationwide cross-sectional survey of physicians in private practice in various specialties (internal medicine, general medicine, surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, child and adolescent medicine, otorhinolaryngology, dermatology, urology) was carried out in 2008. The sample was derived from the German state directories of medical specialists. RESULTS: 1810 (60%) of the physicians surveyed reported that they made decisions about antibiotic treatment every day, with uncomplicated urinary tract infection as the most common diagnosis (715 physicians). The antibiotics that they prescribed most commonly for it were cotrimoxazole (61%) and fluoroquinolones (21%). The following factors were significantly associated with a preference for fluoroquinolones: being a gynecologist (odds ratio [OR] 0.47, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.27-0.80), location of practice in the former East Germany (OR 2.01, CI 1.16-3.46), a treatment strategy incorporating a switch from empirical to targeted treatment (OR 1.72, CI 1.02-2.90), and the stated intention of avoiding inconvenience to the patient (OR 2.14, CI 1.25-3.68). DISCUSSION: Fluoroquinolones are no longer recommended as the drug of first choice for uncomplicated urinary tract infections because of the development of resistance, but are still commonly prescribed for it. ARS (Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance in Germany) publishes current regional and patient-group-specific resistance rates to promote good clinical practice and improve prescribing behavior.