National Public Health Organization (EODY), 151 23 Athens, Greece.
National Reference Center for Arboviruses and Haemorrhagic Fever Viruses, Department of Microbiology, Medical School, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24 Thessaloniki, Greece.
Viruses. 2023 Jun 29;15(7):1481. doi: 10.3390/v15071481.
Since 2010, the West Nile virus (WNV) has been established in Greece. We describe the epidemiology of diagnosed human WNV infections in Greece with a focus on the 2022 season. During the transmission period, clinicians were sending samples from suspected cases for testing. Active laboratory-based surveillance was performed with immediate notification of diagnosed cases. We collected clinical information and interviewed patients on a timely basis to identify their place of exposure. Besides serological and molecular diagnostic methods, next-generation sequencing was also performed. In 2022, 286 cases of WNV infection were diagnosed, including 278 symptomatic cases and 184 (64%) cases with neuroinvasive disease (WNND); 33 patients died. This was the third most intense season concerning the number of WNND cases, following 2018 and 2010. Most (96%) cases were recorded in two regions, in northern and central Greece. The virus strain was a variant of previous years, clustering into the Central European subclade of WNV lineage 2. The 2022 WNV season was quite intense in Greece. The prompt diagnosis and investigation of cases are considered pivotal for the timely response, while the availability of whole genome sequences enables studies on the molecular epidemiology of the disease.
自 2010 年以来，西尼罗河病毒（WNV）已在希腊流行。我们描述了希腊确诊的人类 WNV 感染的流行病学情况，重点关注 2022 年的流行季节。在传播期间，临床医生会对疑似病例进行采样检测。通过即时通报确诊病例，我们开展了主动的基于实验室的监测。我们及时收集临床信息并对患者进行访谈，以确定他们的暴露地点。除了血清学和分子诊断方法外，还进行了下一代测序。2022 年诊断出 286 例 WNV 感染病例，包括 278 例有症状病例和 184 例（64%）有神经侵袭性疾病（WNND）；33 名患者死亡。这是继 2018 年和 2010 年之后，涉及 WNND 病例数的第三个最严重的流行季节。大多数（96%）病例发生在希腊北部和中部的两个地区。病毒株是前几年的一个变种，聚类为 WNV 谱系 2 的中欧亚分支。2022 年希腊的 WNV 季节非常严重。及时诊断和调查病例被认为是及时应对的关键，而全基因组序列的可用性则使对疾病的分子流行病学研究成为可能。
