A descriptive analysis of notifiable gastrointestinal illness in the Northwest Territories, Canada, 1991-2008

作者：Pardhan Ali Aliya^*; Wilson Jeff; Edge Victoria L; Furgal Chris; Reid Smith Richard; Santos Maria; McEwen Scott A

来源：BMJ Open, 2012, 2(4): e000732.

DOI：10.1136/bmjopen-2011-000732

Objectives: To describe the major characteristics of reported notifiable gastrointestinal illness (NGI) data in the Northwest Territories (NWT) from January 1991 through December 2008. %26lt;br%26gt;Design: Descriptive analysis of 708 reported cases of NGI extracted from the Northwest Territories Communicable Disease Registry (NWT CDR). %26lt;br%26gt;Setting: Primary, secondary and tertiary health care centres across all 33 communities of the NWT. %26lt;br%26gt;Population: NWT residents of all ages with confirmed NGI reported to the NWT CDR from January 1991 through December 2008. %26lt;br%26gt;Main outcome measure: Laboratory-confirmed NGI, with a particular emphasis on campylobacteriosis, giardiasis and salmonellosis. %26lt;br%26gt;Results: Campylobacteriosis, giardiasis and salmonellosis were the most commonly identified types of NGI in the territory. Seasonal peaks for all three diseases were observed in late summer to autumn (p%26lt;0.01). Higher rates of NGI (all 15 diseases/infections) were found in the 0-9-year age group and in men (p%26lt;0.01). Similarly, rates of giardiasis were higher in the 0-9-year age group and in men (p%26lt;0.02). A disproportionate burden of salmonellosis was found in people aged 60 years and older and in women (p%26lt;0.02). Although not significant, the incidence of campylobacteriosis was greater in the 20-29-years age group and in men (p%26lt;0.07). The health authority with the highest incidence of NGI was Yellowknife (p%26lt;0.01), while for salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis, it was Tlicho (p%26lt;0.01) and for giardiasis, the Sahtu region (p%26lt;0.01). Overall, disease rates were higher in urban areas (p%26lt;0.01). Contaminated eggs, poultry and untreated water were believed by health practitioners to be important sources of infection in cases of salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and giardiasis, respectively. %26lt;br%26gt;Conclusions: The general patterns of these findings suggest that environmental and behavioural risk factors played key roles in infection. Further research into potential individual and community-level risk factors is warranted.

• 出版日期2012