General principles for the application of these case definitions
- Unless specifically stated, only symptomatic cases are to be reported, however, asymptomatic infections are to be regarded as cases, if the infection has therapeutic or public health implications.
- A ‘case with an epidemiological link’ is a case that has either been exposed to a confirmed case, or has had the same exposure as a confirmed case (e.g. eaten the same food, stayed in the same hotel, etc).
- A three-tiered system with following levels is to be used:
- Confirmed case: verified by laboratory analysis,
- Probable case: clear clinical picture, or linked epidemiologically to a confirmed case,
- Possible case: indicative clinical picture without being a confirmed or probable case
- The classification on these different levels might vary according to the epidemiology of the individual diseases.
- Clinical symptoms listed are only given as indicative examples and not exhaustive.
- For most diseases, several ‘criteria for laboratory diagnosis’ are listed. Unless otherwise stated, only one of these is needed to confirm a case.
- N.A. in the case definition list means ‘not applicable’.
Introductory Notes
- The information reported in this document is intended only for uniform reporting/comparability of data within the Community network. The clinical description gives a general outline of the disease and does not necessarily indicate all the features needed for clinical diagnosis of the disease.
- The laboratory criteria for diagnosis reported here may be fulfilled with different testing methods. However, when specific techniques are indicated, their use is recommended.
Case definitions 2018 - Infectious Disease Prevention and Contol Unit