Area-Level Clustering of Shiga Toxin-Producing Infections and Their Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors in Ontario, Canada: An Ecological Study. | LitMetric
Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) infections are an important health burden for human populations in Ontario and worldwide. We assessed 452 STEC cases that were reported to Ontario's reportable disease surveillance system between 2015 and 2017. A retrospective scan statistic using a Poisson model was used to detect high-rate STEC clusters at the forward sortation area (FSA; the first three digits of a postal code) level. A significant spatial cluster in the southwest region of Ontario was identified. A case-case logistic regression analysis was applied to compare FSA-level socioeconomic and demographic characteristics among STEC cases included inside the spatial cluster with cases outside of the cluster. Cases included in the spatial cluster had higher odds of living in FSAs with a low median family income, low proportion of lone-parent families, and low proportion of the visible minority population. In addition, STEC cases inside the cluster had higher odds of coming from rural FSAs. Our study demonstrated that STEC cases were spatially clustered in Ontario and their clustering was associated with FSA-level socioeconomic and demographic determinants of cases.
There is a growing prevalence of pancreatic cancer, accompanied by accelerated disease progression and diminished survival rates. Radical resection with clear margins remains the sole viable option for achieving a long-term cure in patients. In cases of advanced, unresectable, and metastatic disease, chemotherapy based on leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil, irinotecan, oxaliplatin, gemcitabine, or nab-paclitaxel represents the cornerstone of the treatment.
This report by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of zoonoses monitoring and surveillance activities carried out in 2023 in 27 Member States (MSs), the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) and 10 non-MSs. Key statistics on zoonoses and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and feed are provided and interpreted historically. In 2023, the first and second most reported zoonoses in humans were campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis, respectively.
Background: Few studies have evaluated antibiotic prescribing practices for bacterial enteric infections. Unnecessary antibiotics can result in adverse events and contribute to the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. We assessed treatment practices among patients with laboratory-confirmed enteric infections in a regional healthcare system in Wisconsin, USA.
Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) is a zoonotic pathogen associated with illness ranging from mild diarrhoea to haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or even death. Cross-sectoral data sharing provides an opportunity to gain insight in reservoirs and sources of human infections and starting points for pro-active measures. Nevertheless, phylogenetic clustering of STEC strains from animals, food and human cases is low in the Dutch surveillance system.
Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is an important pathogen since more than 3,000 cases have been reported annually in Japan. With the advent of next-generation sequencing, it has become feasible to analyze numerous strains using whole-genome sequence (WGS) analysis, making its application to surveillance a realistic possibility. In this paper, we introduce the following research outcomes achieved by our group utilizing WGS analysis of EHEC: 1) development of a WGS analysis pipeline to enhance the accuracy of the surveillance, 2) investigation of the dynamics of mobile elements such as plasmids and phages, and 3) analysis of the phylogeny and pathogenicity of newly identified highly pathogenic EHEC strains.
