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Volume 14, Number 10—October 2008
Research

Estimating Community Incidence of Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Shiga Toxin–producing Escherichia coli Infections, Australia

Gillian HallComments to Author , Keflemariam Yohannes, Jane Raupach, Niels Becker, and Martyn Kirk
Author affiliations: Australian National University, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia (G. Hall); Department of Health and Ageing, Canberra, Australia (K. Yohannes, M. Kirk,); Department of Health, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia (J. Raupach); National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (G. Hall, N. Becker);

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Table 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Probability of a case-patient seen by a doctor having stool tested NGS and unpublished reports of 2 surveys of GP treatment and management practices for gastroenteritis in 2003/2004 and 2005 in 2 Australian states (10,11)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Symptom profiles for reported cases of salmonellosis Unpublished case-control study data from the Hunter Public Health Unit, NSW Australia (1997–2000), and OzFoodNet sites (2000–2003)
Symptom profiles on reported cases of campylobacteriosis Unpublished case control study data from the Hunter Public Health Unit, NSW Australia (1997–2000), and OzFoodNet sites (2000–2003)
Information on reported cases of STEC, and laboratory sensitivity of detecting STEC from fecal samples Unpublished data from OzFoodNet study on STEC in South Australia, 2003–2005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

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