Etiology of travelers' diarrhea on a Caribbean island.
J Travel Med
; 7(1): 15-8, 2000 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-10689233
BACKGROUND: Between December 6, 1994 and March 10, 1996, a study of the etiology of diarrhea was carried out among 332 travelers to five all-inclusive hotels in Negril, Jamaica. METHODS: Stool specimens were collected and sent to Montego Bay for laboratory analysis. Escherichia coli strains isolated at the Jamaican laboratory were sent to Houston for toxin testing. RESULTS: A recognized enteropathogen was found in 118 of the 332 (35.5%) cases. Enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) were the most commonly identified pathogen (87/332; 26.2%) followed by Salmonella (4.2%) and Shigella (4.2%). Clustering of etiologically defined cases was studied at each hotel. A cluster was defined as 2 or more cases with the same pathogen identified in the same hotel within 7 days. In the 3 hotels with the highest number of cases of diarrhea, enteropathogens were part of a cluster in 65 of 99 cases (65.7%) of diarrhea of which an etiologic agent was identified. In the other 2 hotels, only 4 of 20 cases (20%) occurred in clusters. CONCLUSIONS: A total of 25 clusters of travelers' diarrhea cases was detected at the five hotels during the study period. Seventeen of 25 (68%) ETEC isolations occurred as part of a clustering of diarrhea cases. The largest outbreak of pathogen-identified diarrhea consisted of 7 cases of ETEC producing both heat-stable and heat-labile enterotoxins. In the Jamaican hotels with all inclusive meal packages most diarrhea cases occurred as small clusters, presumably as the result of foodborne outbreaks.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Viagem
/
Diarreia
/
Escherichia coli
/
Infecções por Escherichia coli
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
Limite:
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
Caribe ingles
/
Jamaica
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Travel Med
Assunto da revista:
DOENCAS TRANSMISSIVEIS
/
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2000
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos
País de publicação:
Reino Unido