Volume 14, Number 10—October 2008
Research
Estimating Community Incidence of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shiga Toxin–producing Escherichia coli Infections, Australia
Gillian Hall
, Keflemariam Yohannes, Jane Raupach, Niels Becker, and Martyn Kirk
, Keflemariam Yohannes, Jane Raupach, Niels Becker, and Martyn KirkTable 1
Data sources used to assess under-reporting of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and STEC infections, Australia, 2001–2005*
| Information | Data sources |
|---|---|
| Symptoms that predicted visiting a doctor and having stool tested (“predictor symptoms”) used to adjust calculations for severity of illness | Australian National Gastroenteritis Survey (NGS) conducted across Australia during 2001 and 2002 (9) |
| Probability of a case-patient in the community visiting a doctor | NGS |
| Probability of a case-patient seen by a doctor having stool tested | NGS and unpublished reports of 2 surveys of GP treatment and management practices for gastroenteritis in 2003/2004 and 2005 in 2 Australian states (10,11) |
| Probability of correctly identifying Salmonella and Campylobacter in stool samples by laboratories | Royal College of Pathologists Australasia, Quality Assurance Programs Pty Limited, Microbiology QAP Results, 2001 (12) |
| Probability of a positive result being reported to health authorities | Discussions with OzFoodNet epidemiologists |
| Symptom profiles for reported cases of salmonellosis | Unpublished case-control study data from the Hunter Public Health Unit, NSW Australia (1997–2000), and OzFoodNet sites (2000–2003) |
| Symptom profiles on reported cases of campylobacteriosis | Unpublished case control study data from the Hunter Public Health Unit, NSW Australia (1997–2000), and OzFoodNet sites (2000–2003) |
| Information on reported cases of STEC, and laboratory sensitivity of detecting STEC from fecal samples | Unpublished data from OzFoodNet study on STEC in South Australia, 2003–2005 |
| Number of notifications of campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, and STEC infection. | National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (13) |
| Australian midyear population for 2005 | Australian Bureau of Statistics (14) |
*STEC, Shiga toxin–-producing Escherichia coli; GP, general practitioner; QAP, quality assurance program. Further details of how data were used are shown in the Technical Appendix
