Temporal trends and epidemiological aspects of ciguatera in French Polynesia: a 10-year analysis.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to report the temporal trends of the incidence of ciguatera poisoning from 1992 to 2001 in French Polynesia.


METHODS
This retrospective study analysed 7842 cases of ciguatera disease recorded over a period of 10 years.


RESULTS
The annual incidence varied from 26.3 to 41.9 per 10,000 person-years. An analysis of cases grouped by archipelago revealed differences in incidences (P < 0.0001) with the most remote archipelagos having the highest incidences. A detailed analysis on a sub-sample of recorded cases for which clinical information was available (n = 1824) confirmed the neurological and gastrointestinal nature of this seafood poisoning.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of ciguatera poisoning appeared relatively stable during the 10 years of the study period. However, the gradient of remoteness observed suggests an adaptation of management of ciguatera disease to each archipelago.
Chateau-Degat
Marie-Ludivine
ML
Public Health Research Unit, Laval University Medical Research Center-CHUQ, Québec, Canada.
Dewailly
Eric
E
Cerf
Nicole
N
Nguyen
Ngoc Lam
NL
Huin-Blondey
Marie-Odile
MO
Hubert
Bruno
B
Laudon
François
F
Chansin
René
R
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D036841:Ciguatera Poisoning / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011114:Polynesia / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution