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Table 1 case definitions used for the surveys of national disease experts

From: European data sources for computing burden of (potential) vaccine-preventable diseases in ageing adults

Pathogen

Disease and case definition

Extra-intestinal pathogenic

Escherichia coli (ExPEC)

Invasive ExPEC disease: laboratory-confirmed sepsis-causing ExPEC, based on invasive isolates from blood or cerebrospinal fluid

Norovirus

(NoV)

1. Norovirus infection: diarrhoea or vomiting or both in a 24-h period confirmed by a positive laboratory test (nucleic acid amplification assay or antigen detection or electron microscopy) or

2. Acute gastroenteritis: diarrhoea or vomiting or both in a 24-h period without laboratory confirmation.

Pneumococcal pneumonia

(PnPn)

1. Non-bacteraemic PnPn: clinical symptoms consistent with pneumonia, with a positive pneumococcal urinary antigen test (UAT) but a negative blood culture, or

2. All-cause pneumonia: clinical symptoms consistent with pneumonia, with or without x-ray confirmation, without bacteriologic confirmation

Respiratory Syncytial Virus

(RSV)

1. Community based Acute Infection (ARI caused by RSV): sudden onset of at least one of the following symptoms: shortness of breath; cough; sore throat and coryza and a laboratory confirmation with RSV, or

2. Hospital-based Extended Severe Acute RSV Infection (SARI caused by RSV): abovementioned symptoms with onset within the last ten days, requiring hospitalisation and a laboratory confirmation with RSV. This could include severe lower respiratory tract infections, like pneumonia.

Staphylococcus aureus

(S. aureus)

Invasive S. aureus infection: clinical symptoms consistent with bacteraemia or sepsis, and isolation of S. aureus from the blood or other sterile site (synovial fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, bronchoalveolar lavage, or from a sterile taken deep-seated abscess).