Trends and disease burden of enteric fever in Guangxi province, China, 1994-2004.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the burden of enteric fever through trends in morbidity and mortality, bacterial species and antimicrobial resistance in Guangxi, a southern, subtropical, coastal province of China with a disproportionally large burden of enteric fever.


METHODS
Data on morbidity and mortality caused by enteric fever between 1994 and 2004 were extracted from the Guangxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Laboratory-based surveillance and outbreak investigations were integrated with reports of notifiable infectious diseases to estimate the bacterial species-specific incidence of enteric fever. To adjust for underreporting, survey data were collected from three prefectures that represent the hyper-, moderate- and low-endemic regions of Guangxi province.


RESULTS
In Guangxi province, enteric fever incidence rate varied over the study period, with a peak of 13.5 cases per 100 000 population in 1995 and a low of 6.5 in 2003. The disease occurred most frequently during the summer and autumn months and in the group aged 10-49 years. The incidence of enteric fever varied by region within Guangxi province. During the 11-year period covered by the study, 61 outbreaks of enteric fever were reported, and Salmonella paratyphi A (SPA) became the predominant causative agent in the province.


CONCLUSIONS
Prospective studies may provide a better understanding of the reason for the shifting epidemiology of enteric fever in Guangxi province. Given the emergence of resistance to first- and second-line antimicrobials for the treatment of enteric fever, a bivalent vaccine against both SPA and S. typhi would facilitate for disease control.
Dong
Bai-Qing
BQ
Guangxi Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanning, China.
Yang
Jin
J
Wang
Xuan-Yi
XY
Gong
Jian
J
von Seidlein
Lorenz
L
Wang
Ming-Liu
ML
Lin
Mei
M
Liao
He-Zhuang
HZ
Ochiai
R Leon
RL
Xu
Zhi-Yi
ZY
Jodar
Luis
L
Clemens
John D
JD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012621:Seasons; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality