Drinking Water Quality and the Geospatial Distribution of Notified Gastro-Intestinal Infections

GRILC, Eva; GALE, Ivanka; VERŠIC, Aleš; ŽAGAR, Tina; SOCAN, Maja

Acute gastrointestinal infections (AGI) are still the cause of a considerable burden of disease in Slovenia. There were from 15 000 to 22 000 (with the incidence rate from 750 to 1100 per 100 000 inhabitants) of AGI cases notified per year in the last decade (17) . However, the incidence is calculated according to notified cases. As only a fraction of overall cases appear as notifications, the real burden of AGI is expected to be much higher. Among microbiologically confirmed notified AGI cases, the most frequent ones were noroviral (the incidence rate in 2010 was 21/100 000) and rotaviral infections (the incidence rate 78/100 000). Viral gastrointestinal infections are followed by AGI, caused by Campylobacter, Salmonella and E. coli. The epidemiological situation in EU countries is similar: Campylobacter infections are the most frequently reported bacterial gastrointestinal infections. In 2010, the total EU incidence was 57/100 000 inhabitants. Reported rates are increasing; most cases are sporadic, with high seasonal peaks in the summer, but multinational outbreaks are infrequent. Salmonella infection remains the second most commonly identified gastrointestinal disease across EU, with the total incidence of 21/100 000 inhabitants in 2010. The reported incidence of Salmonella infection has been declining steadily since 2004, partly due to EU control programmes in poultry farms. However, Salmonella continues to be the source of many outbreaks, both within and between countries (18) . The data for incidences of viral gastroenterocolitis are not available.