Location of Food Consumption and Travelers' Diarrhea

Abstract

Daily food histories for one month were obtained in summer, 1975, from students attending a Mexican university to determine the influence of food consumption on the development and etiology of diarrhea. In newly-arrived students from the U.S. who ate half or more of their meals in the school cafeteria and public restaurants there were significant increases in diarrhea (p less than 0.005); shigella infection (p less than 0.05) and toxigenic E. coli infection (p less than 0.025) compared to the students eating a comparable number of meals in private homes. In the summer U.S. students there was also an association of diarrhea and eating from street vendors (p less than 0.05). In full-time U.S. students who had lived in Mexico a year or longer as well as in Latin American students a relationship between location of meals and occurrence of enteric disease was not apparent. High numbers of enteric bacteria were recovered from food from the school's cafeteria, public restaurants, street vendors and small grocery stores. Shigella were isolated from cooked and uncooked hamburger patties from the school cafeteria. Four shigella carriers were found among kitchen personnel at the school. This study demonstrates that food serves as a major vehicle through which travelers' diarrhea occurs.

A global study of pathogens and host risk factors associated with infectious gastrointestinal disease in returned international travellers

“…These findings are similar to those found in previous studies where reductions in incidence rates of travellers' diarrhoea have been noted in long-term travellers. 7,17 This finding may reflect the fact that longterm travellers develop illness and recover while travelling, may be better prepared or have more time to acquire local knowledge about risk avoidance behaviour, or possibly have developed immunity to local pathogens.…”

Epidemiology, Etiology and Pathophysiology of Traveler’s Diarrhea

“…1) [10,11,12]. The incidence of TD is increased by other factors related to the quality, type and location of food consumption [13, 14]. There also are some personal factors that can play a key role in the susceptibility of travelers to acquire TD: immunodeficiency and decreased gastric acidity.…”

An Evaluation of Health Education Intervention on Hygienic Status of Food Handlers in Aligarh - A Three Year Experience

“…They have been identified as an important source for contamination of food and food borne disease outbreaks. Eating at these places significantly increases the risk of diarrhea among consumers [2].…”