Document Detail


Validation of guidelines for investigating foodborne disease outbreaks: the experience of the Lazio region, Italy.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  14672235     Owner:  NLM     Status:  MEDLINE    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Information about risk ratios, exposures, and vehicles for foodborne diseases tends to be more reliable when it is obtained from outbreak surveillance than when it is obtained from disease notifications. In 1997, guidelines for methods of investigating foodborne disease outbreaks (FBDOs) were implemented in the Lazio region. To evaluate the impact of these guidelines, we analyzed information about 410 FBDOs from 1996 to 2000. Under these guidelines, the delay in the reporting of outbreaks decreased from 10 to 2 days. An analysis of 82 large FBDOs (in which > 30 people were exposed) showed increases in the calculation of attack rates with a cohort approach (up to 83%), correctly drawn epidemic curves (up to 79%), and the calculation of food-specific relative risk (up to 60%). On the other hand, the level of the determination of etiology remained low: tests were performed on patients in 57% of the cases considered, resulting in an agent identification rate of 38%; for 22 outbreaks, tests were performed on food, resulting in three positive identifications. Analysis of the contamination route with the use of hazard analysis critical control point criteria a posteriori was carried out for 15 outbreaks, and nine of these analyses were successful. The implementation of the 1997 guidelines was successful with regard to epidemiological and statistical methods but did not improve etiological diagnosis for FBDOs. These guidelines improved surveillance for outbreaks in which > 30 people were exposed in well-defined exposure situations; however, the guidelines did not significantly improve epidemiological investigations of small household outbreaks.
Authors:
Paolo Giorgi Rossi; Annunziata Faustini; Carlo A Perucci;
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Publication Detail:
Type:  Journal Article; Validation Studies    
Journal Detail:
Title:  Journal of food protection     Volume:  66     ISSN:  0362-028X     ISO Abbreviation:  J. Food Prot.     Publication Date:  2003 Dec 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2003-12-15     Completed Date:  2004-01-13     Revised Date:  2009-11-19    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  7703944     Medline TA:  J Food Prot     Country:  United States    
Other Details:
Languages:  eng     Pagination:  2343-8     Citation Subset:  IM    
Affiliation:
Regional Agency for Public Health, Via di S. Costanza, n. 53, 00198 Rome, Italy. malinf3@asplazio.it
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MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:
Cohort Studies
Disease Notification
Disease Outbreaks / statistics & numerical data*
Epidemiologic Studies
Food Microbiology
Foodborne Diseases / epidemiology*,  microbiology,  prevention & control
Guidelines as Topic
Humans
Italy
Population Surveillance
Risk Factors

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


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