Gastroenteritis in sentinel general practices,The Netherlands.
From 1996 to 1999, the incidence of gastroenteritis in general practices and the role of a broad range of pathogens in the Netherlands were studied. All patients with gastroenteritis who had visited a general practitioner were reported. All patients who had visited a general practitioner for gastroenteritis (cases) and an equal number of patients visiting for nongastrointestinal symptoms (controls) were invited to participate in a case-control study. The incidence of gastroenteritis was 79.7 per 10,000 person years. Campylobacter was detected most frequently (10% of cases), followed by Giardia lamblia (5%), rotavirus (5%), Norwalk-like viruses (5%) and Salmonella (4%). Our study found that in the Netherlands (population 15.6 million), an estimated 128,000 persons each year consult their general practitioner for gastroenteritis, slightly less than in a comparable study in 1992 to 1993. A pathogen could be detected in almost 40% of patients (bacteria 16%, viruses 15%, parasites 8%).
National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Department of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology, PO Box 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, The Netherlands. matty.de.wit@rivm.nl
M A
MA
de Wit
M P
MP
Koopmans
L M
LM
Kortbeek
N J
NJ
van Leeuwen
A I
AI
Bartelds
Y T
YT
van Duynhoven
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001419:Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology