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Cited by 60Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiologySalmonella and Campylobacter epidemiologyAntibiotic Use and Resistance

The burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in Ontario, Canada, 2005–2006

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SARGEANT, J. M., MAJOWICZ, S. E., SNELGROVE, J.·2008·Epidemiology and Infection
DOI 10.1017/s0950268807008837PMC PMC2870834
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Abstract

SUMMARY: A retrospective, cross-sectional telephone survey (n=2090) was conducted in Ontario, Canada, between May 2005 and April 2006, to determine the burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the population. The 4-week prevalence was 8·56% (95% CI 7·36–9·76); in households with more than one resident, 35% of cases reported someone else in their household had similar symptoms at the same time. The annual adjusted incidence rate was 1·17 (95% CI 0·99–1·35) episodes per person-year, with higher rates in females, rural residents, and in the winter and spring. Health care was sought by 22% of cases, of which 33% were asked to provide a stool sample. Interestingly, 2·2% of cases who did not visit a health-care provider reported self-administering antibiotics. Overall, acute gastrointestinal illness appears to pose a significant burden in the Ontario population. Further research into the specific aetiologies and risk factors is now needed to better target intervention strategies.

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  • The higher odds of being a GI case in children and youths is similar to other reported studies.

    “which is similar to other reported studies where children and youths have higher odds of being a GI case [7-9, 13-16].”

    From Burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the Metropolitan region, Chile, 2008 (2011) · cites this paper as [15]

    The Discussion reports the opposite result for this study: it found no significant association between age and acute GI (P=0.37). Although it notes that other studies found higher rates in children and young adults, this paper did not find higher odds for those groups in its own population. (LLM, conf=0.90)

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  • The survey tool was developed by modifying survey tools used previously in Argentina and using other similar cross-sectional population burden-of-GI studies as models.

    “The survey tool (available from the author upon request) was developed by modifying the survey tools used previously in Argentina [21] and using other similar cross-sectional population burden of GI studies as models [7, 9, 11, 13-16].”

    From Burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the Metropolitan region, Chile, 2008 (2011) · cites this paper as [15]

  • The symptoms, severity and duration of illness reported in the current study are similar to other studies, although the median duration and percentage of cases with bloody diarrhoea are at the lower end of the spectrum of reported results.

    “The symptoms, severity and duration of illness we report are similar to other studies [7, 9, 11, 13-16, 18], although the median duration and percentage of our cases with bloody diarrhoea are at the lower end of the spectrum of reported results.”

    From Burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the Metropolitan region, Chile, 2008 (2011) · cites this paper as [15]

  • Numerous countries have conducted population-based studies to better estimate the disease burden.

    “To address this, numerous countries have conducted population-based studies to better estimate the disease burden [7-18].”

    From Burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the Metropolitan region, Chile, 2008 (2011) · cites this paper as [15]

  • The overall age-adjusted monthly prevalence of 9.2% is similar to prevalences from studies in Canada and Cuba and somewhat higher than prevalences from studies in the USA, Australia, and Argentina.

    “Overall the age-adjusted monthly prevalence of 9 . 2% is similar to prevalences from studies in Canada, and Cuba [9, 13, 15, 16] and somewhat higher than prevalences from studies in the USA, Australia, and Argentina [7, 10, 21].”

    From Burden of acute gastrointestinal illness in the Metropolitan region, Chile, 2008 (2011) · cites this paper as [15]

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Authors
SARGEANT, J. M., MAJOWICZ, S. E., & SNELGROVE, J.
Affiliations
  • Public Health Agency of Canada (CA)
  • McMaster University (CA)
Corresponding author
SARGEANT, J. M.
ORCID
Venue
Epidemiology and Infection
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Published
2007-06-13
Volume
136
Issue
4
Pages
451-460
ISSN
  • 0950-2688 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-4409
DOI
10.1017/s0950268807008837
PMC
PMC2870834
OpenAlex
W2151606229
Cited by
60
References
4
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 4
FWCI
2.11
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified)
Locations
  • Epidemiology and Infection (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • Public Health Agency of Canada
  • Public Health Agency
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Infectious Diseases › Viral gastroenteritis research and epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
Keywords
acute gastrointestinal illness, disease burden, prevalence, incidence, household transmission, seasonal variation, rural residence, sex differences, health-seeking behavior, stool sampling, Ontario
MeSH terms
Acute Disease, Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Family Characteristics, Feces, Female, Gastroenteritis, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Ontario, Retrospective Studies, Risk Factors, Rural Population, Seasons, Sex Factors, Incidence, Prevalence, Cost of Illness

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