Economic Cost of Illness Due to Escherichia coli O157 Infections in the United States

Frenzen, Paul D.; Drake, Alison L.; Angulo, Frederick J.

doi:10.4315/0362-028x-68.12.2623

Cited by 184 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…However, because the hospitalization costs of a single E. coli O157 case complicated by death from hemolytic uremic syndrome are estimated to be as high as US $6.2 million per case, we believe that such a campaign would be highly cost-effective (37). Given the potential public health benefi ts to be gained by these actions, and the low costs associated with their implementation, these strategies also may be relevant for outbreaks from other highly infectious pathogenic microorganisms.…”

Section: Public Health Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to Reduce Person-to-Person Transmission during WidespreadEscherichia coliO157:H7 Outbreak

Seto

Soller²,

Colford

2007

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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RESEARCHDuring the Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak in 2006 in the United States, the primary strategy to prevent illness was to advise consumers not to eat spinach. No widespread warnings were issued about preventing person-to-person (secondary) transmission. A disease transmission model, fi tted to the current data, was used to investigate likely reductions in illnesses that could result from interventions to prevent secondary transmission. The model indicates that exposure to contaminated spinach occurred early in the outbreak and that secondary transmission was similar to that in previous E. coli outbreaks (≈12%). The model also suggests that even a modestly effective strategy to interrupt secondary transmission (prevention of only 2%-3% of secondary illnesses) could result in a reduction of ≈5%-11% of symptomatic cases. This analysis supports the use of widespread public health messages during outbreaks of E. coli O157:H7 with specifi c advice on how to interrupt secondary transmission.W idespread distribution of contaminated spinach was implicated in an Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157) outbreak in the United States in 2006. As of September 24, 2006, a total of 173 cases had been reported in 25 states; 88% of cases were reported over an 18-day period from August 19 through September 5, 2006 (1). The outbreak strain was particularly virulent, resulting in 1 death, 53% of patients being hospitalized, and a 16% rate of hemolytic uremic syndrome. At the time of our analysis, the potential extent of the outbreak was unknown because new cases were still being reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration advised consumers not to eat spinach as the primary strategy for protecting against foodborne transmission of E. coli O157 (2). No warnings, however, were issued regarding the prevention of person-to-person (secondary) transmission.According to recent studies on the extent of secondary transmission for E. coli O157 and other pathogens, the initially reported foodborne illnesses in the outbreak may have represented only a small fraction of a larger outbreak that included asymptomatic infections and secondary infections among household members of infected persons and other close contacts. Specifi cally, the E. coli O157 literature indicates that a large proportion (72%) of infections are asymptomatic (3), exposure to low doses can result in infection (4), and reported secondary transmission rates are on the order of 4%-16% (5). Further, outbreaks of shigellosis (6), cryptosporidiosis (7), and giardiasis (8,9) indicate that other highly infectious enteric pathogens can spread from person to person after being introduced into a community through water, food, or other sources (9). Recent adenovirus outbreak data indicate that persons with asymptomatic infection who are shedding virus can be a primary cause of continual transmission of infection (10). And in a prolonged giardiasis outbreak that occurred in late 2003 in a Boston, Massachusetts, suburb, 30 ...

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Section: Public Health Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Strategies to Reduce Person-to-Person Transmission during WidespreadEscherichia coliO157:H7 Outbreak

Seto

Soller²,

Colford

2007

Emerg. Infect. Dis.

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“…Healthcare and lost productivity cost estimates have ranged from $405 million annually for E. coli (Frenzen, Drake, & Angulo, 2005) to upwards of $7.1 billion annually for all foodborne illnesses in one state (Scharff, McDowell, & Medeiros, 2009). An estimated 60,854 hospitalizations occur each year due to foodborne transmission (Mead et al, 1999).…”

Section: Review Of Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Development and Use of an Instrument to Measure Retail Foodservice Employees' Motivation for Following Food Safety Practices

Arendt

Ellis

Strohbehn

et al. 2011

Journal of Foodservice Business Research

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A foodborne illness outbreak can be costly to a retail foodservice operation. This research incorporated a mixed methods approach to develop an instrument for measuring retail foodservice employees' motivational factors related to following food safety practices. Using exploratory design for instrument development, a sequential data collection and analysis approach was taken. Instrument pilot testing revealed a reliable instrument with 3 factors related to external motivation. Additional items were added to also assess internal motivators. The final tool contained 35 questions assessing internal and external motivational factors. Uses of the instrument to help identify employee motivators are discussed.

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“…Annually in the United States, EHEC is responsible for an estimated 73,000 illnesses, 1,800 to 3,600 hospitalizations and from 61 to 541 deaths with combined annual economic costs of up to $405 million [33]. During the recent outbreak in the United States of EHEC from contaminated raw spinach, 199 people were infected, 102 were hospitalized, 31 suffered from HUS, and 3 patients died.…”

Section: Inhibitors Of the Ai-3/ Epinephrine/ Norepinephrine Signalinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel approaches to bacterial infection therapy by interfering with bacteria-to-bacteria signaling

Sperandio¹

2007

Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy

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SummaryThe growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance and the paucity of novel antibiotics underscore the importance of developing novel therapeutics. Interference with bacterial cell-to-cell signaling constitutes a novel drug target. Quorum sensing (QS) is a cell-to-cell signaling mechanism that refers to the ability of bacteria to respond to chemical hormone-like molecules called autoinducers. QS is responsible for controlling a plethora of virulence genes in several bacterial pathogens. Antagonists to autoinducers will intercept bacterial intercellular communication hindering their ability to act in a coordinate manner to express virulence traits. Moreover, because QS is not directly involved in essential processes, such as growth of the bacteria, one can reason that inhibition of QS will not yield a selective pressure for development of resistance.

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Economic Cost of Illness Due to Escherichia coli O157 Infections in the United States

Cited by 184 publications

References 13 publications

Strategies to Reduce Person-to-Person Transmission during WidespreadEscherichia coliO157:H7 Outbreak

Strategies to Reduce Person-to-Person Transmission during WidespreadEscherichia coliO157:H7 Outbreak

Development and Use of an Instrument to Measure Retail Foodservice Employees' Motivation for Following Food Safety Practices

Novel approaches to bacterial infection therapy by interfering with bacteria-to-bacteria signaling

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