According to a recent report, Campylobacter and Listeria infections have increased, but cases of Salmonella and E. coli have fallen in Ireland in the first three months of 2024.
Campylobacter infections rose from 700 in the first quarter of 2023 to 733 in the first quarter of 2024. Listeria infections rose from one to five. The number of salmonella cases fell from 84 to 67, and the number of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infections fell from 131 to 116.
The data comes from a report published by the Health Protection Surveillance Center (HPSC) which includes foodborne illness from January to March 2024. It is the first since such reports were halted after the Q4 2019 edition due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. .
One Campylobacter outbreak was reported, in which two people were ill in a family context. Of the 62 isolates sequenced, 57 were Campylobacter jejuni and the others were Campylobacter coli. During the same period in 2023, there were four outbreaks.
Of the sixty Salmonella infections for which travel history was known, 50 percent of the cases were travel-related and 50 percent were acquired domestically.
Infection with Salmonella Typhimurium was more common in domestic cases, while Salmonella Enteritidis was more commonly found in travel-related cases. Other serotypes caused 32 cases. Three familial outbreaks were reported in six patients.
E. coli and Listeria data
Most of the 116 cases of E. coli were hospital or general practitioner patients.
One case of haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) was reported, although these data were unknown or unspecified for almost half of all cases. There were seven HUS cases in the first quarter of 2023. The most common serogroups among culture-confirmed cases in 2024 were O157, O26, O91, O78, and O145.
Three outbreaks affected 14 people, including one outbreak in a residential institution.
Five cases of listeriosis were reported, compared to one in the first quarter of 2023. Three patients were cases in adults and adolescents, and two were pregnancy-related cases. There were no outbreaks.
In the first quarter of 2024, 152 cases of cryptosporidiosis were reported, compared to 117 in the first quarter of 2023. When travel status was known, the majority of infections were acquired domestically, but six were travel-related.
A dozen outbreaks were recorded, which is double the number in the first quarter of 2023. A total of 29 people became ill, ranging from two to four people per incident.
A total of 18 cases of Hepatitis A and two outbreaks were reported, compared to seven cases and no outbreaks in the first quarter of 2023. The two outbreaks affected five people. For Hepatitis E, 13 cases were recorded, compared to four in the same period last year.
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