Estimating foodborne gastroenteritis, Australia.
We estimated for Australia the number of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths due to foodborne gastroenteritis in a typical year, circa 2000. The total amount of infectious gastroenteritis was measured by using a national telephone survey. The foodborne proportion was estimated from Australian data on each of 16 pathogens. To account for uncertainty, we used simulation techniques to calculate 95% credibility intervals (CrI). The estimate of incidence of gastroenteritis in Australia is 17.2 million (95% confidence interval 14.5-19.9 million) cases per year. We estimate that 32% (95% CrI 24%-40%) are foodborne, which equals 0.3 (95% CrI 0.2-0.4) episodes per person, or 5.4 million (95% CrI 4.0-6.9 million) cases annually in Australia. Norovirus, enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, Campylobacter spp., and Salmonella spp. cause the most illnesses. In addition, foodborne gastroenteritis causes approximately 15,000 (95% CrI 11,000-18,000) hospitalizations and 80 (95% CrI 40-120) deaths annually. This study highlights global public health concerns about foodborne diseases and the need for standardized methods, including assessment of uncertainty, for international comparison.
Hall
Gillian
G
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia. gillian.hall@anu.edu.au
Kirk
Martyn D
MD
Becker
Niels
N
Gregory
Joy E
JE
Unicomb
Leanne
L
Millard
Geoffrey
G
Stafford
Russell
R
Lalor
Karin
K
D001315:Australia / Q000453:epidemiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004266:DNA Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000821:virology; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D016908:Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011528:Protozoan Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D011634:Public Health; D012327:RNA Virus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology