scholarly journals Foodborne Illness a Dynamic, Everywhere Possible Emergency Field Today

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Food Storage ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Salmonella Infection ◽  
Row Crops ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The World

Foodborne illness afflicts people throughout the world. The CDC defines a foodborne disease outbreak as the occurrence of two or more similar illnesses resulting from ingestion of a common food. Each year, in USA, one in 10 people experiences a foodborne illness, 128,000 are hospitalized, 3,000 die, and 33 million healthy life-years are lost. While few patients with foodborne illness present with life-threatening symptoms, there are a number of foodborne infectious diseases and toxins that the emergency physician or other health care provider must consider in the evaluation of these patients. Given the frequency of international travel, as well as the risk associated with recurrent outbreaks of foodborne illness from commercial food sources, it is important to recognize various syndromes of foodborne illness, including those, which may require specific evaluation and management strategies. Foodborne illness poses a significant public health threat to the United States. The disease is defined as any ailment associated with the ingestion of contaminated food and is most often associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, nausea, and/or vomiting. Individuals who are aged less than 5 years or more than 60 years or who are immunocompromised are at greatest risk for acquiring a foodborne illness. The most common cause of gastroenteritis is Salmonella infection. Annually, nontyphoidal Salmonella causes 1.2 million cases of foodborne illness and 450 deaths. Most Salmonella outbreaks were attributed to seeded vegetables (6.9%), pork (4%), or vegetable row crops (1.7%). Adults older than 65 years, people with weakened immune systems, and non-breastfed infants are more likely to have severe infections. Approximately 8% of patients with nontyphoidal salmonellosis will develop bacteremia and require treatment with antibiotics, including ceftriaxone or azithromycin in children and a fluoroquinolone (commonly levofloxacin) or azithromycin in adults. The summer months (peaking in July or August) had the highest percentage of cases. The use of certain medications to reduce stomach acidity can increase the risk of Salmonella infection. The food safety systems in some countries afford better consumer protection than others. This situation, combined with differing climates and ecologies, results in the association of different types of foodborne illness with different regions of the world. In a global economy, both people and food travel the world. Clinicians need to consider foreign travel as well as the consumption of food from other parts of the world when determining the cause of foodborne disease. The key to reducing the incidence of foodborne illness is prevention. Proper food storage, refrigeration, handling, and cooking are vital. Patients should be educated to avoid high-risk items such as unpasteurized milk and milk products, as well as raw or undercooked items like oysters, meat, poultry, and eggs. The consumption of more meals in the home may also decrease the risk of foodborne illness.

Foodborne Illness: Perceptions, Experience, and Preventive Behaviors in the United States

1995 ◽  
Vol 58 (12) ◽  
pp. 1405-1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
SARA B. FEIN ◽  
C. -T. JORDAN LIN ◽  
ALAN S. LEVY
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Illness Perceptions ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
College Education ◽  
Latency Period ◽  
The United States ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Safety Issues ◽  
A Minor

Data from national telephone surveys conducted in 1988 and 1993 were used to describe consumer perceptions of foodborne illness. The 1993 data were also used to assess the relationship between the perception that a foodborne illness had recently been experienced and awareness, concern, knowledge, and behavior related to food safety. Respondents described foodborne disease primarily as a minor illness without fever that occurs within a day of eating a contaminated food prepared in a restaurant. However, several common pathogens have a latency period longer than a day, and experts on foodborne disease estimate that most cases of foodborne illness originate from foods prepared at home. In both surveys, people 18 to 39 years of age were more likely than those in other age groups to believe they had experienced a foodborne illness. In 1993, people with at least some college education were more likely to believe they had experienced foodborne illness than were people with less education. People who believed they had experienced foodborne illness had greater awareness of foodborne microbes and concern about food safety issues, were more likely to eat raw protein foods from animals, and were less likely to practice safe food handling than were those who did not perceive that they had experienced such an illness.

Consumer Shell Egg Consumption and Handling Practices: Results from a National Survey

2015 ◽  
Vol 78 (7) ◽  
pp. 1312-1319 ◽  
Author(s):  
KATHERINE M. KOSA ◽  
SHERYL C. CATES ◽  
SAMANTHA BRADLEY ◽  
SANDRIA GODWIN ◽  
DELORES CHAMBERS
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Grocery Store ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Salmonella Infection ◽  
Shell Eggs ◽  
Home Based ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Handling Practices ◽  
Safe Food ◽  
At Home

Numerous cases and outbreaks of Salmonella infection are attributable to shell eggs each year in the United States. Safe handling and consumption of shell eggs at home can help reduce foodborne illness attributable to shell eggs. A nationally representative Web survey of 1,504 U.S. adult grocery shoppers was conducted to describe consumer handling practices and consumption of shell eggs at home. Based on self-reported survey data, most respondents purchase shell eggs from a grocery store (89.5%), and these eggs were kept refrigerated (not at room temperature; 98.5%). As recommended, most consumers stored shell eggs in the refrigerator (99%) for no more than 3 to 5 weeks (97.6%). After cracking eggs, 48.1% of respondents washed their hands with soap and water. More than half of respondents who fry and/or poach eggs cooked them so that the whites and/or the yolks were still soft or runny, a potentially unsafe practice. Among respondents who owned a food thermometer (62.0%), only 5.2% used it to check the doneness of baked egg dishes the they prepared such a dish. Consumers generally followed two of the four core “Safe Food Families” food safety messages (“separate” and “chill”) when handling shell eggs at home. To prevent Salmonella infection associated with shell eggs, consumers should improve their practices related to the messages “clean” (i.e., wash hands after cracking eggs) and “cook” (i.e., cook until yolks and whites are firm and use a food thermometer to check doneness of baked egg dishes) when preparing shell eggs at home. These findings will be used to inform the development of science-based consumer education materials that can help reduce foodborne illness from Salmonella infection.

Ranking the Disease Burden of 14 Pathogens in Food Sources in the United States Using Attribution Data from Outbreak Investigations and Expert Elicitation†

2012 ◽  
Vol 75 (7) ◽  
pp. 1278-1291 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL B. BATZ ◽  
SANDRA HOFFMANN ◽  
J. GLENN MORRIS
Keyword(s):  
Cost Of Illness ◽  
Disease Burden ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Expert Elicitation ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Health Burden ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Outbreak Investigations

Understanding the relative public health impact of major microbiological hazards across the food supply is critical for a risk-based national food safety system. This study was conducted to estimate the U.S. health burden of 14 major pathogens in 12 broad categories of food and to then rank the resulting 168 pathogen-food combinations. These pathogens examined were Campylobacter, Clostridium perfringens, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, norovirus, Salmonella enterica, Toxoplasma gondii, and all other FoodNet pathogens. The health burden associated with each pathogen was measured using new estimates of the cost of illness and loss of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) from acute and chronic illness and mortality. A new method for attributing illness to foods was developed that relies on both outbreak data and expert elicitation. This method assumes that empirical data are generally preferable to expert judgment; thus, outbreak data were used for attribution except where evidence suggests that these data are considered not representative of food attribution. Based on evaluation of outbreak data, expert elicitation, and published scientific literature, outbreak-based attribution estimates for Campylobacter, Toxoplasma, Cryptosporidium, and Yersinia were determined not representative; therefore, expert-based attribution were included for these four pathogens. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to assess the effect of attribution data assumptions on rankings. Disease burden was concentrated among a relatively small number of pathogen-food combinations. The top 10 pairs were responsible for losses of over $8 billion and 36,000 QALYs, or more than 50% of the total across all pairs. Across all 14 pathogens, poultry, pork, produce, and complex foods were responsible for nearly 60% of the total cost of illness and loss of QALYs.

scholarly journals Preventing Foodborne Illness: Salmonellosis

EDIS ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keith R. Schneider ◽  
Renée M. Goodrich-Schneider ◽  
Michael A. Hubbard ◽  
Susanna Richardson
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Food Science ◽  
Food Handlers ◽  
Salmonella Infection ◽  
Food Handling ◽  
Contaminated Food ◽  
Handling Practices ◽  
Food Handling Practices ◽  
Good Food

In 2007, there were over 1 million cases and some 400 deaths associated with Salmonella-contaminated food. In 2004, it was estimated that the total economic burden caused by Salmonella infection in the United States was $1.6–$5.3 billion. Food handlers, processors, and retailers can minimize the risk of salmonellosis by using good food handling practices. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Keith R. Schneider, Renée Goodrich Schneider, Michael A. Hubbard, and Susanna Richardson, and published by the UF Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, March 2013. http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fs096

scholarly journals COVID-19, Australia: Epidemiology Report 14 (Reporting week to 23:59 AEST 3 May 2020)

2020 ◽  
Vol 44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
United States Of America ◽  
Case Fatality ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
World Health ◽  
Public Health Action ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The World ◽  
Overseas Travel ◽  
Health Action

Confirmed cases in Australia notified up to 03 May 2020: notifications = 6,784; deaths = 89. The reduction in international travel and domestic movement, social distancing measures and public health action have likely slowed the spread of COVID-19 in Australia. Currently new notifications in Australia are mostly considered to be locally-acquired with some cases still reported among people with recent overseas travel. Most locally-acquired cases can be linked back to a confirmed case or known cluster, with a small portion unable to be epidemiologically linked to another case. The ratio of overseas-acquired cases to locally-acquired cases varies by jurisdiction. The crude case fatality rate (CFR) in Australia remains low (1.3%) compared to the World Health Organization’s globally-reported rate (7.1%) and to other comparable high-income countries such as the United States of America (5.7%) and the United Kingdom (15.4%). The lower CFR in Australia is likely reflective of high case ascertainment including detection of mild cases. Internationally, cases continue to increase. The rates of increase have started to slow in several regions, although it is too soon to tell whether this trend will be sustained.

scholarly journals International Travel is Not a Significant Risk of Exposure for Patients at a Midwestern United States Travel Clinic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooja Patel ◽  
Hans House
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
Retrospective Chart Review ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The World ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Western Pacific ◽  
Travel Clinic

Abstract The Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced into the United States via travel from Asia and Europe, although the extent of the spread of the disease was limited in the early days of the pandemic. Consequently, international travel may have played a role in the transmission of the disease into Iowa. This study seeks to determine how preferences for international travel changed as novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world and if any of these returning travelers developed COVID-19 as a result of their trips. This is a retrospective chart review of patients presenting to a travel clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa for pre-travel advice and vaccinations. From October 2019 to March 2020, four hundred twelve (n=412) patients presented to the clinic. Intended travel to the Western Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) decreased dramatically during the study period. All 412 patients were followed in the electronic medical record for the period after their planned travel and only three (3) presented for COVID-19 testing. Two (2) tested positive, and both of these infections were linked to workplace exposures and not due to travel. News of the growing pandemic and travel warnings likely altered patients’ travel plans and decreased travel to the most affected regions of the world in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our study, travel was not a significant source of COVID-19 exposure for patients seen at this clinic.

Heavy truck driving attitude and behavior contributing to road traffic accidents

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Tarek M. Esmael ◽  
Abdulamajeed Al Amri ◽  
Tariq Al Anazi ◽  
Saleh Al Attawi ◽  
Hany Hosny ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Traffic Accidents ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
The United States ◽  
Alcoholic Beverages ◽  
World Health ◽  
Road Traffic Accidents ◽  
World Health Survey ◽  
Life Years ◽  
The World

According to the World Health Organisation, road traffic accidents are the leading cause of most emergency  admissions in hospitals worldwide. Many people have indicated that road traffic collisions are a significant contributor to DALYs lost. For example, according to the World Health Survey in 2010, road traffic events have been reported as the ninth most common cause of injury-modified life years (DALYs) lost across all age and gender classes. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that one out of every 10 deaths in the world are caused by road traffic accidents. More than 200,000 people are killed in the United States each year from different reasons. The number of disabled people related to this disease will grow even further by 2020. There are nearly 1.5 million out of about 47 million people who are wounded in the highways every year in the United States Drivers were found to be more likely to saddle up for the journey as they set out on main roads. Car seat-belts can make driving more safe by reducing the effect made on the drivers and the passengers in the car. The driver's mood about the problem of distracted driving can be a critical factor in avoiding road traffic accidents. To be safe, drivers should have at least one restful day a week, should not drive for more than eight hours a day, should not travel more than 800 kilometers a day, and will need to have routine checks so that everything is going well and is running properly. Traffic laws, traffic signs, other vehicles, and many other items when on the road; drivers should not eat any nourishment, they should not consume any quantity of alcoholic beverages, they should not use electronic cigarettes, they should not put their mobile phones on.

An assessment of the human health impact of seven leading foodborne pathogens in the United States using disability adjusted life years

2015 ◽  
Vol 143 (13) ◽  
pp. 2795-2804 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. SCALLAN ◽  
R. M. HOEKSTRA ◽  
B. E. MAHON ◽  
T. F. JONES ◽  
P. M. GRIFFIN
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foodborne Pathogens ◽  
Health Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Health State ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Health States ◽  
Disability Adjusted Life ◽  
Life Years ◽  
Safety Interventions

SUMMARYWe explored the overall impact of foodborne disease caused by seven leading foodborne pathogens in the United States using the disability adjusted life year (DALY). We defined health states for each pathogen (acute illness and sequelae) and estimated the average annual incidence of each health state using data from public health surveillance and previously published estimates from studies in the United States, Canada and Europe. These pathogens caused about 112 000 DALYs annually due to foodborne illnesses acquired in the United States. Non-typhoidal Salmonella (32 900) and Toxoplasma (32 700) caused the most DALYs, followed by Campylobacter (22 500), norovirus (9900), Listeria monocytogenes (8800), Clostridium perfringens (4000), and Escherichia coli O157 (1200). These estimates can be used to prioritize food safety interventions. Future estimates of the burden of foodborne disease in DALYs would be improved by addressing important data gaps and by the development and validation of US-specific disability weights for foodborne diseases.

scholarly journals Food Safety and Foodborne Disease in the 21stCentury

2003 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 277-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Scott
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Healthcare Delivery ◽  
International Travel ◽  
Foodborne Illness ◽  
Preschool Age ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Daycare Centre ◽  
The Impact ◽  
At Home

Over the past decade there has been a growing recognition of the involvement of the home in several public health and hygiene issues. Perhaps the best understood of these issues is the role of the home in the transmission and acquisition of foodborne disease. The incidence of foodborne disease is increasing globally. Although foodborne disease data collection systems often miss the mass of home-based outbreaks of sporadic infection, it is now accepted that many cases of foodborne illness occur as a result of improper food handling and preparation by consumers in their own kitchens. Some of the most compelling evidence has come from the international data onSalmonellaspecies andCampylobacterspecies infections.By its very nature, the home is a multifunctional setting and this directly impacts upon the need for better food safety in the home. In particular, the growing population of elderly and other immnocompromised individuals living at home who are likely to be more vulnerable to the impact of foodborne disease is an important aspect to consider. In addition, some developed nations are currently undergoing a dramatic shift in healthcare delivery, resulting in millions of patients nursed at home. Other aspects of the home that are unique in terms of food safety are the use of the home as a daycare centre for preschool age children, the presence of domestic animals in the home and the use of the domestic kitchen for small-scale commercial catering operations. At the global level, domestic food safety issues for the 21stcentury include the continued globalization of the food supply, the impact of international travel and tourism, and the impact of foodborne disease on developing nations.A number of countries have launched national campaigns to reduce the burden of foodborne disease, including alerting consumers to the need to practice food safety at home. Home hygiene practice and consumer hygiene products are being refined and targeted to areas of risk, including preventing the onward transmission of foodborne illness via the inanimate environment. It has been said that food safety in the home is the last line of defense against foodborne disease, and it is likely that this will remain true for the global population in the foreseeable future.

scholarly journals International Travel is Not a Significant Risk of Exposure for Patients at a Midwestern United States Travel Clinic

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans House ◽  
Pooja Patel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Significant Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Travel ◽  
The Novel ◽  
The World ◽  
Risk Of Exposure ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
The Western Pacific

Abstract The Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) was introduced into the United States due to travel from Asia and Europe, although the extent of the spread of the disease was limited in the early days of the Pandemic. International travel may have played a role in the transmission of the disease into Iowa. Persons planning international travel likely modified their travel plans as a result of the viral outbreak. This study, documenting the travel destinations of patients from a clinic in Bettendorf, Iowa, seeks to determine how preferences for international travel changed as Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) spread throughout the world and if any of these patients developed COVID-19 as a result of their travel. From October 2019 to March 2020, four hundred twelve (n=412) patients presented for pre-travel advice. Intended travel to the Western Pacific region (China, Japan, Korea, etc.) decreased dramatically during the study period. Of the 412 patients, only three (3) presented for COVID-19 testing during the follow-up period. Two (2) tested positive, and both of these infections were linked to workplace exposures and not due to travel. News of the growing pandemic and travel warnings likely altered patient’s travel plans and fewer intended travel to the most affected regions of the world in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel was not a significant source of COVID-19 exposure for patients seen at this clinic.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document