title: TV news and concerns about - the EHEC-outbreak 2011 in Germany.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In the beginning of May 2011 and finally terminated on July 26th 2011 an outbreak of infections with enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia (E.) coli (EHEC) strain O104:H4 occurred in Germany. The aim of this study is to analyse whether media coverage of the outbreak influenced the number of patients presenting with diarrhoea to the emergency room of a tertiary centre and to evaluate the influence of information on perception and rating of symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospectively collected data in a tertiary centre on the number of patients presenting to the emergency room with diarrhea during the EHEC outbreak was correlated with retrospectively collected data about the media coverage of the outbreak on TV and compared to the number of patients that had presented with diarrhea during a comparative period in 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,625 patients presented to our emergency room during the observation period in 2011 between May 31st and June 13th, including 72 patients (4.4%) presenting with the predominant symptom of diarrhoea, of whom six patients (0.4%) reported haemorrhagic diarrhoea. In the comparative period in 2010, between May 31st and June 13th, twelve patients (1.6%) presenting the symptom of diarrhea were treated in our emergency room. The analysis of the news reports in 2011 revealed a total of 1,150 reports broadcast in the ARD and a total of 173 reports broadcast in the regional news channel MDR between May 29th and June 11th. In 2010 not a single report regarding our search terms was broadcast in the corresponding time period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest a clear positive correlation of the frequency of TV reports dealing with the epidemic disease outbreak and the rate of outpatient consultations in emergency rooms because of diarrhoea and could make an important contribution for future discussions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schulz
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schütte
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Jacobi
authors.affiliation: University of Magdeburg, Hospitals and Clinics, Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hülsemann
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, University of Magdeburg, Germany.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malfertheiner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054324:Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D015438:Health Behavior; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006463:Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011639:Public Opinion / Q000266:history; D013690:Television / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult