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Publication bias in foodborne outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease and its implications for evidence-based food policy. England and Wales 1992–2003

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2006

S. J. O'BRIEN ,
I. A. GILLESPIE ,
M. A. SIVANESAN ,
R. ELSON ,
C. HUGHES  and
G. K. ADAK
S. J. O'BRIEN
Affiliation:
Division of Medicine and Neurosciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
I. A. GILLESPIE
Affiliation:
Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
M. A. SIVANESAN
Affiliation:
Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
R. ELSON
Affiliation:
Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
C. HUGHES
Affiliation:
Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
G. K. ADAK
Affiliation:
Environmental and Enteric Diseases Department, Health Protection Agency Centre for Infections, London, UK
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Abstract

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Systematic national surveillance of outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease (IID) was introduced in England and Wales in 1992 to provide comprehensive information on causative organisms, sources or vehicles of infection and modes of transmission. We compared information from this system with that published in the peer-reviewed literature between 1 January 1992 and 31 January 2003 to assess the potential effect of publication bias on food-safety policy. During the study period 1763 foodborne outbreaks of IID were reported to national surveillance. Fifty-five were published in the peer-reviewed literature. The peer-reviewed literature overestimated the impacts of milk/milk products, miscellaneous foods (e.g. sandwiches) and desserts and underestimated those of poultry, fish and shellfish, red meat/meat products and eggs/egg products. Without systematic surveillance, knowledge of causative organisms, sources or vehicles of infection and modes of transmission, as gleaned from the peer-reviewed literature, would potentially distort food-safety policy.

Type
Review Article
Information
Epidemiology & Infection , Volume 134 , Issue 4 , August 2006 , pp. 667 - 674
Copyright
2006 Cambridge University Press

Footnotes

This paper was presented in part at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Atlanta, Georgia, USA in March 2004.