viernes, 10 de abril de 2015

Sero-incidence calculator tool for Salmonella and Campylobacter

European Center for Disease Control present this new technology during the World Health Day in which the year’s theme was food safety.
On this occasion, ECDC launches the sero-incidence calculator tool for human Salmonella and Campylobacter infections and publishes the ‘Surveillance report on the seven priority food- and waterborne diseases in the EU/EEA, 2010-2012’.

Campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis are the two leading gastrointestinal diseases reported in the European Union. However, the reported number of cases represents only a small fraction of all infections that actually occur. 
As a consequence, an ECDC funded project has developed a tool which provides additional information. The tool utilizes the measured combination of serum antibody levels (IgG, IgM, and IgA) at a given point in time and estimates the time since sero-conversion. This in turn gives an estimate on the frequency of exposure to Salmonella and Campylobacter in the tested population.

This tool builds upon an EU-wide study [1] on sero-incidence of salmonellosis which produced estimates showing tenfold differences by country in the frequency of exposure to Salmonella. 
The sero-incidence tool enables the calculation of estimates for monitoring the effects of control programs as they provide more accurate information on the pressure of infection to humans in EU/EEA countries. Despite the decrease in the number of reported salmonellosis cases, this tenfold difference shows that continued surveillance and vigilance remains of utmost importance.

The ‘Surveillance report on the seven priority food- and waterborne diseases in the EU/EEA 2010-2012’ is the second dedicated epidemiological report for non-typhoidal salmonellosis, typhoid and paratyphoid fever, campylobacteriosis, Shiga toxin/vero-cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC/VTEC) infections, listeriosis, shigellosis and yersiniosis.

For most of the gastrointestinal diseases, the case-fatality rate was below 1%, except for listeriosis, for which the average case-fatality rate was 16% between 2010 and 2012. Of special concern are Listeria infections among the elderly, where case numbers have increased sharply, particularly in men over 65 years of age.


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