Disease burden of foodborne pathogens in the Netherlands, 2009.

To inform risk management decisions on control, prevention and surveillance of foodborne disease, the disease burden of foodborne pathogens is estimated using Disability Adjusted Life Years as a summary metric of public health. Fourteen pathogens that can be transmitted by food are included in the study (four infectious bacteria, three toxin-producing bacteria, four viruses and three protozoa). Data represent the burden in the Netherlands in 2009.

Seroprevalence and risk factors of Q fever in goats on commercial dairy goat farms in the Netherlands, 2009-2010.

Background: The aim of this study was to estimate the seroprevalence of Coxiella burnetii in dairy goat farms in the Netherlands and to identify risk factors for farm and goat seropositivity before mandatory vaccination started. We approached 334 eligible farms with more than 100 goats for serum sampling and a farm questionnaire. Per farm, median 21 goats were sampled.

Proximity to goat farms and Coxiella burnetii seroprevalence among pregnant women.

During 2007-2009, we tested serum samples from 2,004 pregnant women living in an area of high Q fever incidence in the Netherlands. Results confirmed that presence of antibodies against Coxiella burnetii is related to proximity to infected dairy goat farms. Pregnant women and patients with certain cardiovascular conditions should avoid these farms.

Is it cost-effective to introduce rotavirus vaccination in the Dutch national immunization program?

This study assessed whether the inclusion of two rotavirus (RV) vaccines in the Dutch national immunization programme is cost-effective. Costs and outcomes in unvaccinated and vaccinated populations are compared for a time period of 20 years. In the baseline, assuming competitive market forces in relation to vaccine costs, Rotarix is more cost-effective than RotaTeq, resulting in a cost-utility ratio (CUR) of euro 53,000 per DALY (third payer perspective) and euro 49,000 per DALY (societal perspective), but both considered as being not cost-effective.

Evaluation of 5'-nuclease and hybridization probe assays for the detection of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in human stools.

5'-Nuclease and a hybridization probe assays for the detection of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli were validated with regard to selectivity, analytical sensitivity, reproducibility and clinical performance. Both assays were capable of detecting the classical stx(1) and stx(2) genes when challenged with reference strains of E. coli (n=40), although 1 to 4 minority sequence variants, whose clinical relevance is limited (stx(1c), stx(1d), and stx(2f)), were detected less efficiently or not at all by one or both assays.

General practitioner practices in requesting laboratory tests for patients with gastroenteritis in the Netherlands, 2001-2002.

Background: The objective of this study was to estimate the (selective) proportion of patients consulting their GP for an episode of gastroenteritis for whom laboratory tests were requested. In addition adherence of GPs to the guidelines for diagnostic test regime was ascertained.

Methods: Data were collected from a GP network in the Netherlands.

Norovirus outbreak among primary schoolchildren who had played in a recreational water fountain.

Background: A gastroenteritis outbreak was associated with playing in a norovirus-contaminated recreational fountain.

Objective And Study Design: A retrospective cohort study was performed to estimate the magnitude of the outbreak and identify its source. Epidemiological investigation included standardized questionnaires about sex, age, school, class, risk exposures, and illness characteristics.

Risk factors for norovirus, Sapporo-like virus, and group A rotavirus gastroenteritis.

Viral pathogens are the most common causes of gastroenteritis in the community. To identify modes of transmission and opportunities for prevention, a case-control study was conducted and risk factors for gastroenteritis attributable to norovirus (NV), Sapporo-like virus (SLV), and rotavirus were studied. For NV gastroenteritis, having a household member with gastroenteritis, contact with a person with gastroenteritis outside the household, and poor food-handling hygiene were associated with illness (population attributable risk fractions [PAR] of 17%, 56%, and 47%, respectively).

Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis phage type 4b outbreak associated with bean sprouts.

In November 2000 in the Netherlands, an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis phage type 4b was investigated. Eating bean sprouts was the only exposure associated with S. Enteritidis pt 4b infection (matched odds ratio 13.