Acute gastroenteritis in northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: a telephone survey.
Most people with acute gastroenteritis do not seek medical care and are therefore not captured by routine surveillance. For this reason, population-based studies are needed to measure the burden of illness. A study of acute gastroenteritis in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland surveyed 9,903 people by telephone over the 12-month period from December 2000 to November 2001. The rate of acute gastroenteritis was 0.60 episodes per person per year. A general practitioner was consulted by 29.2% of those reporting illness, and 2.0% submitted a stool sample. The use of antibiotics was reported by 7.4% of ill respondents and 14.8% took anti-diarrhoeals. Taking days off work due to illness, was reported by 17.4% of respondents. Acute gastroenteritis causes a large amount of illness in the community. There are established and effective measures to prevent this condition and the challenge is to find new ways of promoting these precautions.
Scallan
E
E
Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland. escallan@cdc.gov
Fitzgerald
M
M
Collins
C
C
Crowley
D
D
Daly
L
L
Devine
M
M
Igoe
D
D
Quigley
T
T
Robinson
T
T
Smyth
B
B
D000041:Absenteeism; D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009660:Northern Ireland / Q000453:epidemiology; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D011159:Population Surveillance; D013689:Telephone