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Association between environmental risk factors and campylobacter infections in Sweden

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2004

K. NYGÅRD
Affiliation:
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training, Sweden
Y. ANDERSSON
Affiliation:
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden
J. A. RØTTINGEN
Affiliation:
Norwegian Institute of Public Health and University of Oslo, Norway
Å. SVENSSON
Affiliation:
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden
J. LINDBÄCK
Affiliation:
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden
T. KISTEMANN
Affiliation:
Institute for Hygiene and Public Health, University of Bonn, Germany
J. GIESECKE
Affiliation:
Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Stockholm, Sweden
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Abstract

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Campylobacter sp. is the most common cause of acute bacterial gastroenteritis in Sweden and the incidence has been increasing. Case-control studies to identify risk factors have been conducted in several countries, but much remains unexplained. The geographical distribution of campylobacter infections varies substantially, and many environmental factors may influence the observed pattern. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) offer an opportunity to use routinely available surveillance data to explore associations between potential environmental risk factors showing a geographical pattern and disease incidence, complementing traditional approaches for investigating risk factors for disease. We investigated associations between campylobacter incidence and environmental factors related to water and livestock in Sweden. Poisson regression was used to estimate the strength of the associations. Positive associations were found between campylobacter incidence and average water-pipe length per person, ruminant density, and a negative association with the percentage of the population receiving water from a public water supply. This indicates that drinking water and contamination from livestock may be important factors in explaining sporadic human campylobacteriosis in Sweden, and that contamination occurring in the water distribution system might be more important than previously considered.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press