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Volume 18, Number 2—February 2012
CME ACTIVITY - Research

Declining Guillain-Barré Syndrome after Campylobacteriosis Control, New Zealand, 1988–2010

Michael G. BakerComments to Author , Amanda Kvalsvig, Jane Zhang, Rob Lake, Ann Sears, and Nick Wilson
Author affiliations: University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand (M.G. Baker, A. Kvalsvig, J. Zhang, A. Sears, N. Wilson); Institute of Environmental Science and Research, Christchurch, New Zealand (R. Lake)

Main Article

Table 1

Incidence of campylobacteriosis and GBS before and after intervention to reduce Campylobacter spp. in poultry, New Zealand 2002–2010*

Incident condition Before intervention, 2002–2006
 After intervention, 2008–2010†
 Change
Total no. Average/year Rate‡ Total no. Average/year Rate‡ Rate ratio (95% CI) p value
Campylobacteriosis notifications§ 69,207 13,841 339.4 21,217 7,072 163.8 0.48 (0.48–0.49) <0.0001
Campylobacteriosis hospitalizations¶ 4,669 934 23.2 1,603 534 12.2 0.53 (0.51–0.54) <0.0001
GBS hospitalizations¶ 513 103 2.6 290 97 2.2 0.87 (0.81–0.93) 0.0496

*GBS, Guillain-Barré syndrome.
†Excludes 2007, which was a transitional year.
‡Annual no. cases/100,000 person-years at risk. Denominator populations based on mean population estimates published by Statistics New Zealand (www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/population/estimates_and_projections/national-pop-estimates.aspx). Campylobacteriosis and Guillan-Barré syndrome hospitalizations used age-standardized rates based on the age structure of the New Zealand 2006 Census of Population and Dwellings (www.stats.govt.nz/Census/2006CensusHomePage/classification-counts-tables/about-people/age.aspx).
§Published campylobacteriosis notification data (9).
¶Hospitalization data from New Zealand Ministry of Health.

Main Article

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Page created: January 26, 2012
Page updated: January 26, 2012
Page reviewed: January 26, 2012
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