title: The autumn peak in campylobacter gastro-enteritis. Are the risk factors the same for travel- and UK-acquired campylobacter infections?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In the autumn of 1992 there was an excess of campylobacter cases in Nottingham compared with the national average. No relative increase was seen for salmonella infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  A case-control study with a postal questionnaire was carried out to determine exposure to possible risk factors. The patients were 282 laboratory confirmed cases of campylobacter and 318 culture negative controls who had submitted a faeces specimen. All patients were aged 18 or older. The main outcome measures were relative risks for campylobacter infection compared with controls with a negative faeces culture.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-five per cent of cases were associated with foreign travel. Eating chicken and handling raw poultry were the main risk factors for UK-acquired infections. The number of cases with a history of contact with puppies or drinking milk that was either unpasteurized or from bottles with bird-damaged tops was small.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Eating chicken and handling raw poultry are the main risk factors for campylobacter infections. Contact with puppies or drinking potentially infected milk can explain only a small percentage of campylobacter infections. Risk factors for infection acquired abroad follow a different pattern compared with UK-acquired cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Medicine and Epidemiology, University of Nottingham.
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Neal
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Slack
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004739:England; D004781:Environmental Exposure; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons