Jan Kyncl

• National Institute of Public Health

People with noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are at a higher risk of contracting vaccine-preventable diseases, such as influenza, with a higher likelihood of severity and complications. However, the immunization rates for the influenza vaccine among this population in the Czech Republic are very low. This survey, among adults with NCDs in the Czech...

Respiratory viruses represent a significant public health threat. There is the need for robust and coordinated surveillance to guide global health responses. Established in 2012, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) addresses this need by collecting clinical and virological data on persons with acute respiratory illnesses acro...

Background Influenza is a relatively serious infection that causes considerable morbidity and mortality. Epidemics of influenza are reported almost every year. Methods Based on the Czech national all‐cause mortality and acute respiratory infection/influenza‐like illness surveillance data for the 1999/2000 to 2019/2020 influenza seasons, excess dea...

Introduction Mumps data were analysed to assess the effect of vaccination on mumps complications and hospitalisation. Methods The mumps cases reported to the Czech nationwide surveillance system from 2013 to 2022 were analysed using logistic regression with an odds ratio (aOR) adjusted for age, sex, year of onset and administrative region to measu...

Background: Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is caused by the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). TBEV infection can cause symptoms of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and result in severe consequences including death. TBE is an increasing health threat in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Europe. In 2020, 23% of 3734 TBE cases reported t...

Introduction: The Raise Awareness of Influenza Strategies in Europe (RAISE) group gathered information about the healthcare burden of influenza (hospitalizations, intensive care unit [ICU] admissions, and excess deaths), surveillance systems, and the vaccine coverage rate (VCR) in older adults in 18 European countries and Israel. Areas covered:...

Background: By March 2023, 54 countries, areas and territories (thereafter "CAT") reported over 2.2 million coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths to the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe (1). Here, we estimate how many lives were directly saved by vaccinating adults in the Region, from December 2020 through March 2023....

Background Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an infection by the tickborne encephalitis virus that causes symptoms of central nervous system inflammation (meningitis, encephalitis, etc.). TBE is endemic in parts of Europe including the Czech Republic. In 2020, 23% of 3,734 TBE cases reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control...

Background: The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has since 2012 provided patient-level data on severe influenza-like illnesses from over 100 participating clinical sites worldwide based on a core protocol and consistent case definitions. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze multiple years of global, patient-le...

Objectives Pregnant women are among the priority groups to receive influenza vaccines in the Czech Republic since 2011, data on vaccination coverage are not yet available. The aim of the study was to determine the influenza vaccination coverage (IVC) and provide source data for further activities. Methods A prospective observational study was perf...

Introduction The completeness and timeliness of the pertussis questionnaire-based enhanced surveillance system (ESS) among infants and reported pertussis data within the electronic nationwide notification system (NNS) in the years 2015, 2017 and 2019 were evaluated in a pilot study. Methods The completeness of the variables for demographic charact...

Background Timely treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors (NAI) can reduce severe outcomes in influenza patients.AimWe assessed the impact of antiviral treatment on in-hospital deaths of laboratory-confirmed influenza patients in 11 European Union countries from 2010/11 to 2019/20.Methods Case-based surveillance data from hospitalised patients with...

Objectives: This observational study aimed to analyse data from big maternity hospital, determine the vaccination coverage and provide source information for further activities. Background: Although vaccination of pregnant women against pertussis is recommended in the Czech Republic, data on vaccination coverage are not available. Methods: The...

Background Influenza disease data remain scarce in middle and lower-income countries. We used data from the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN), a prospective multi-country surveillance system from 2012-2019, to assess differences in the epidemiology and severity of influenza hospitalizations by country income level. Methods We c...

Background: We estimated what risk factors affect hospitalisation for confirmed pertussis cases among infants (child up to 1 year) in the Czech Republic based on data from the questionnaire-based enhanced surveillance system (ESS) in years 2015, 2017 and 2019. Methods: Retrospective cohort study was conducted in which we assessed demographic, cl...

Following the report of a non-travel-associated cluster of monkeypox cases by the United Kingdom in May 2022, 41 countries across the WHO European Region have reported 21,098 cases and two deaths by 23 August 2022. Nowcasting suggests a plateauing in case notifications. Most cases (97%) are MSM, with atypical rash-illness presentation. Spread is ma...

Background and aim The associations between COVID-19 transmission and meteorological factors are scientifically debated. Several studies have been conducted worldwide, with inconsistent findings. However, often these studies had methodological issues, e.g., did not exclude important confounding factors, or had limited geographic or temporal resolut...

Paradigma medicíny založené na důkazech dominuje klinické lékařské praxi již 30 let. Přístup založený na důkazech by však měl být aplikován také ve veřejně-zdravotnické praxi. Má být založen na syntéze metodologicky nejkvalitnějších a nejrelevantnějších dostupných důkazů, aplikovatelných teoretických modelů, profesionálních zkušeností a zevrubné zn...

There has been an increase in reported TBE cases in Europe since 2015, reaching a peak in some countries in 2020, highlighting the need for better management of TBE risk in Europe. TBE surveillance is currently limited, in part, due to varying diagnostic guidelines, access to testing, and awareness of TBE. Consequently, TBE prevalence is underestim...

Aim: Homelessness is a social, societal, economic, and health problem. The aim of the study was to describe the characteristics of hospitalized homeless persons in the Czech Republic in relation to their health status and to propose targeted measures for improvement. Material and methods: The study used anonymous data from the National Registry...

Background: Research indicates that timely treatment with neuraminidase inhibitors (NAI) reduces severe outcomes in influenza-infected patients. Our aim was to analyse case-based data on NAI treatment in hospitalised laboratory-confirmed influenza patients in EU countries from 2010/11 to 2019/20 to assess this. Methods: Propensity weighted adjuste...

Since December 2019, over 1.5 million SARS-CoV-2-related fatalities have been recorded in the World Health Organization European Region - 90.2% in people ≥ 60 years. We calculated lives saved in this age group by COVID-19 vaccination in 33 countries from December 2020 to November 2021, using weekly reported deaths and vaccination coverage. We estim...

Lyme borreliosis (LB), the most prevalent vector-borne disease in Europe, is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex species and transmitted by the tick Ixodes ricinus. The Czech Republic is an endemic country for LB. The disease affects the skin, neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiac or ocular tissue, and the most frequent clinical mani...

Background: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections are one of the leading causes of lower respiratory tract infections and have a major burden on society. For prevention and control to be deployed effectively, an improved understanding of the seasonality of RSV is necessary. Objectives: The main objective of this study was to contribute to a...

Objectives: On 17th Dec 2019 gastroenteritis outbreak occurred in two Pragues neighbouring institutions. Investigation aimed to describe outbreak, identify etiological agent, vehicle and propose control measures. Methods: Routine outbreak investigation and retrospective cohort study was done. Data collected via online questionnaire were analysed...

Reports of SARS-CoV-2 reinfections are on the rise. This study focused on reinfections in patients with confirmed COVID-19 in the Czech Republic. Between 1 March 2020 and 9 November 2020, 362 084 cases with the onset of symptoms before 31 October 2020 were reported. Overall, 28 cases of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 reinfections were identified, 11 in mal...

Background Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is one of the leading causes of acute respiratory tract infections. To optimize control strategies, a better understanding of the global epidemiology of RSV is critical. To this end, we initiated the Global Epidemiology of RSV in Hospitalized and Community care study (GERi). Methods Focal points from 44...

Background The aim of our study was to analyse the influence of air temperature and implemented veterinary measures on salmonellosis incidence in the Czech Republic (CZ). Methods We conducted a descriptive analysis of salmonellosis as reported to the Czech national surveillance system during 1998–2017 and evaluated the influence of applied veterin...

SOUHRN První vlna epidemie COVID-19 způsobená virem SARS-CoV-2 proběhla v České republice na jaře roku 2020 s vrcholem kon-cem března, od 1. března do 31. května bylo zachyceno celkem 9230 osob pozitivně testovaných metodou PCR. Zjišťovali jsme stav promořenosti infekcí COVID-19 u zaměstnanců Státního zdravotního ústavu na sklonku první vlny pomocí...

ČESKY / SOUHRN Úvod: V rámci Evropské Unie (EU) je listerióza 5. nejběžnějším alimentárním onemocněním a zároveň jednou z nejzávažnějších zoonóz. Rizikovými skupinami pro závažné formy onemocnění jsou imunokompromitované osoby, HIV pozitivní, těhotné ženy, novorozenci a starší lidé. V letech 2009–2018 byl v zemích EU zaznamenán významně se zvyšují...

Článek poskytuje přehled o výskytu některých zoonóz v České republice (dále jen ČR) v letech 1993–2019, se zaměřením na ta onemocnění, která nebyla zařazena do předchozích sdělení věnovaných nemocem přenosných vodou a potravinami a nákazám přenosným vektory nebo v nich byla zmíněna jen okrajově. Údaje o výskytu uvedených onemocnění vycházejí z dat...

Background: Since 2011, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has used active surveillance to prospectively collect epidemiological and virological data on patients hospitalized with influenza virus infection. Here, we describe influenza virus strain circulation in the GIHSN participant countries during 2017-2018 season and ex...

Zprávy centra eppidemiologie a mikrobiologie (SZÚ, Praha) 2020; 29(1): 100-103

Background: Since 2011, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has used active surveillance to prospectively collect epidemiological and virological data on patients hospitalized with influenza virus infection. Here, we describe influenza virus strain circulation in the GIHSN participant countries during 2017–2018 season and exa...

Background: Since 2011, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has used active surveillance to prospectively collect epidemiological and virological data on patients hospitalized with influenza virus infection. Here, we describe influenza virus strain circulation in the GIHSN participant countries during 2017–2018 season and exa...

Background: Since 2011, the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has used active surveillance to prospectively collect epidemiological and virological data on patients hospitalized with influenza virus infection. Here, we describe influenza virus strain circulation in the GIHSN participant countries during 2017–2018 season and exa...

Background Morbidity, severity and mortality associated with annual influenza epidemics are of public health concern. We analysed surveillance data on hospitalised laboratory-confirmed influenza cases admitted to intensive care units (ICU) to identify common determinants for fatal outcome and inform and target public health prevention strategies, i...

We investigated and compared current national vaccination policies for health-care personnel (HCP) in Europe with results from our previous survey. Data from 36 European countries were collected using the same methodology as in 2011. National policies for HCP immunization were in place in all countries. There were significant differences in terms o...

Abstract Background The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network is an international platform whose primary objective is to study severe cases of influenza requiring hospitalization. Methods During the 2015–2016 influenza season, 11 sites in the Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network in nine countries (Russian Federation, Czech Republ...

Background The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) aims to determine the burden of severe influenza disease and Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness (IVE). This is a prospective, active surveillance and hospital-based epidemiological study to collect epidemiological data in the GIHSN. In the 2016–2017 influenza season, 15 sites in 14...

Background To improve national influenza vaccination recommendations, additional data on influenza A and B virus circulation are needed. Here, we describe the circulation of influenza A and B in the Czech Republic during 16 seasons. Methods This was a retrospective analysis of data collected from the 2000–2001 to 2015–2016 influenza seasons by the...

Background: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a prion disease. It is a rare, rapidly progressing fatal disorder of the central nervous system, which occurs in four forms: sporadic (sCJD), genetic/familial (gCJD), iatrogenic (iCJD), and variant (vCJD). Methods: CJD research in the Czech Republic (CR) is conducted by the National Reference Labora...

Seasonal influenza can have serious morbid consequences and can even result in death, particularly in at-risk populations, including healthcare professionals (HCPs), elderly and those living with a medical risk condition. Although in Europe recommendations exist for annual influenza vaccination in these populations in most countries, the vaccinatio...

Background: Annual vaccination is the most effective way to prevent and control the health and economic burden caused by seasonal influenza. Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a crucial role in vaccine acceptance and advocacy for their patients. This study explored the drivers of HCWs' vaccine acceptance and advocacy in six European countries. Method...

Background: Estimates of influenza-associated mortality are important for national and international decision making on public health priorities. Previous estimates of 250 000-500 000 annual influenza deaths are outdated. We updated the estimated number of global annual influenza-associated respiratory deaths using country-specific influenza-assoc...

Measles are one of the most severe viral diseases of childhood. Severe course of illness can be seen also in susceptible adults. Measles are vaccine-preventable, but decreasing vaccine coverage due to postponing or refusal of vaccination starts to be a problem. There is an increasing number of measles throughout the European region this year. The e...

Aims: The detection of an epidemic outbreak is possible only if the baseline incidence level of a given disease is well defined. The determination of the baseline is complicated by the presence of epidemic outbreaks in historical data. The aim of the paper is to provide a new way of determining the baseline. Methods: The analyzed data containing...

In epidemiology, it is very important to estimate the baseline incidence of infectious diseases, but the available data are often subject to outliers due to epidemic outbreaks. Consequently, the estimate of the baseline incidence is biased and so is the predicted epidemic threshold which is a crucial reference indicator used to suspect and detect a...

The Global Influenza Hospital Surveillance Network (GIHSN) has established a prospective, active surveillance, hospital-based epidemiological study to collect epidemiological and virological data for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres over several consecutive seasons. It focuses exclusively on severe cases of influenza requiring hospitalization....

Currently there is no influenza vaccination guidance for European general practitioners. Furthermore, although the European Council recommends a target seasonal influenza vaccination rate of 75% in the elderly (65 years and above) and in anyone aged >6 months with a chronic medical condition, there remain wide discrepancies throughout Europe. A har...

The 2014/2015 influenza epidemic season was characterized by the predominance of the H3N2 subtype. The presented study investigated the genetic and antigenic heterogeneity of the H3N2 strains collected in the Czech Republic from November 2014 to March 2015. Phylogenetic analysis of the representative H3 hemagglutinin sequences was performed and the...

Background: In the Czech Republic, two-dose immunization against mumps achieves 98 % coverage. The routine reporting detects mumps cases, clinical complications, and hospital admissions in unvaccinated but also in vaccinated individuals. Using surveillance data of patients with mumps we assessed the effectiveness of mumps vaccination on mumps clin...

Aim: The aim of the study was to map the incidence of mumps in the Czech Republic in terms of clinical symptoms, epidemiological links, and characteristics of circulating genotypes. Methods: Patients with suspected mumps examined in the Infectious Diseases Clinic of the Na Bulovce Hospital in 2013 were enrolled in the study. Buccal swab specimens w...

In epidemiology, it is very important to estimate the baseline incidence of infectious diseases. From this baseline, the epidemic threshold can be derived as a clue to recognize an excess incidence, i.e. to detect an epidemic by mathematical methods. Nevertheless, a problem is posed by the fact that the incidence may vary during the year, as a rule...

Influenza viruses A and B are important pathogens that cause epidemics of varying extent every year. The 2009 influenza A/H1N1pdm pandemic brought about the need for rapid and sensitive laboratory diagnosis; therefore, PCR (polymerase chain reaction) assays were implemented on a larger scale. Gradually, PCR assays have also found use in the virolog...

Dengue fever is a frequent cause of morbidity in travellers. The objective was to describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of dengue fever in Czech travellers. This descriptive study includes patients with acute dengue fever diagnosed at Hospital Na Bulovce during 2004-2013. Data were collected and analysed retrospectively. A total...

The study examines effects of hot spells on cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality in the population of the Czech Republic, with emphasis on differences between ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and cerebrovascular disease (CD) and between morbidity and mortality. Daily data on CVD morbidity (hospital admissions) and mortality over 1994–2...

The influenza season 2014/15 started in Europe in week 50 2014 with influenza A(H3N2) viruses predominating. The majority of the A(H3N2) viruses characterised antigenically and/or genetically differ from the northern hemisphere vaccine component which may result in reduced vaccine effectiveness for the season. We therefore anticipate that this seas...

Influenza is one of the most common causes of human morbidity and mortality. Analysis of severe cases of influenza during the influenza season 2012/2013 found that 84 % of patients had at least one risk factor and the cohort of patients had lower influenza vaccine coverage in comparison with the general population. Influenza vaccine reduces the ris...

Aim: To perform phylogenetic and molecular analysis of A/H1N1pdm influenza viruses isolated in the epidemic season 2012/2013 from hospitalised patients with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI). Material and methods: The study set included 34 strains of the A/H1N1pdm influenza virus isolated in the Czech Republic in the epidemic season 2012/...

Aim of the study: To characterize the clinical and epidemiological features of patients hospitalized with moderate to severe influenza infection at the infectious diseases department of a tertiary care hospital in the epidemic season 2012-2013. Materials and Methods: A prospective observation of patients hospitalized wiht influenza infectious disea...

Since 2008, annual surveys of influenza vaccination policies, practices and coverage have been undertaken in 29 European Union (EU)/ European Economic Area (EEA) countries. After 2009, this monitored the impact of European Council recommendation to increase vaccination coverage to 75% among risk groups. This paper summarises the results of three se...

Influenza is a global health problem contributing to high morbidity and mortality. Vaccination is the simplest way to protect people against influenza and its complications. The vaccination is considered to be an effective method for prevention of influenza and influenza-related complications. Influenza vaccine is unique in that it needs frequent u...

Influenza affects 5-15% of the population during an epidemic. In Western Europe, vaccination of at-risk groups forms the cornerstone of influenza prevention. However, vaccination coverage of the elderly (> 65 y) is often low in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE); potentially because a paucity of country-specific data limits evidence-based policy maki...

A nation-wide vaccination against mumps that had been launched in the Czech Republic in 1987 eliminated great outbreaks (up to 100,000 cases per year) of this disease in 1955-1988, but did not prevent small outbreaks (a few thousand cases per year) in 1995-1996, 2005-2007, and 2010-2012. The extent of these small outbreaks shows an increasing trend...

A sudden increase in severe influenza has been registered in the Czech Republic since the end of 2012, with 264 cases requiring intensive care, including 51 deaths. Most patients had at least one risk factor. Severe influenza in patients with obesity, smoking and/or haematological disorders including haematological cancers was more frequent than in...

Influenza A virus is an important cause of acute respiratory infections (ARI). Clinical manifestations of ARI vary from mild or moderate to life-threatening conditions requiring intensive care. Given the segmented genome, a large natural reservoir of other influenza virus subtypes, and antibody selection pressure in the population, the virus is var...

Recent outbreaks of viral hepatitis A in non-endemic European countries and the potential outbreak risk in susceptible populations has led us to evaluate the clinical characteristics of children hospitalised with hepatitis A. Retrospective study included 118 children (68 boys and 50 girls) with the mean age of 8.5 years hospitalised at Hospital Na...

Keywords: HIV-1 patients; pandemic influenza H1N1; vaccination.

Elevated mortality associated with high ambient temperatures in summer represents one of the main impacts of weather extremes on human society. Increases in cardiovascular mortality during heat waves have been reported in many European countries; much less is known about which particular cardiovascular disorders are most affected during heat waves,...

We compared the effects of hot and cold spells on cardiovascular mortality in the Czech Republic over 1986–2006 and examined differences between population groups. We used analogous definitions for hot and cold spells that are based on quantiles of daily average temperature anomalies and do not incorporate any location-specific threshold. Epidemics...

Infectious diseases represent great danger for human health. Surveillance of diseases is a method that can partly solve this threat and contribute to health improvement. Fundamental elements of surveillance are data collection, analysis, interpretation and distribution of information. Communicable disease surveillance in the Czech Republic has a lo...

Influenza infection in children involves certain specific features. In children up to two or three years of age, influenza often results in hospitalization with a clinical presentation dominated by febrile convulsions, bronchiolitis, croup or otitis media. The approaches to vaccination of children vary from country to country. In the Czech Republic...

Influenza is one of the groups of infections, which cause substantial morbidity and mortality and remains a serious respiratory disease. The unpredictable variability of influenza A viruses, which cause annual epidemics, is the main reason for developing new trends in influenza vaccine production (universal influenza vaccine, virus-like particles,...

Extreme temperature events influence human society in many ways, including impacts on morbidity and mortality. While the effects of hot summer periods are relatively direct in mid-latitudinal regions, much less is known and little consensus has been achieved about possible consequences of positive and negative temperature extremes in the other part...

Influenza is a relatively serious infection that affects hundreds of thousands of people every year in the Czech Republic alone, with unnecessary deaths as a possible outcome. Vaccination against influenza is the most important preventive measure. The highest incidence of seasonal influenza is reported in school-age children and young adults while...