Epidemiological Problem Foodborne Illness in the US - 1925 Words

Evaluation of Epidemiological Problem: Foodborne Illness in the US (Research Paper Sample) Content: Research on Foodborne Illness in the USNameInstitutionResearch on Foodborne Illness in the USIntroductionFoodborne disease has become a common health concern in the United States. In the contemporary United States, this illness is reported to have a yearly prevalence of approximately 9.4 million people. Consequently, over 1200 individuals succumb to this illness each year (Frias, 2012). Although studies have not categorized the prevalence of foodborne illness on the basis of income, race and ethnicity, it has been floated that this problem is more prevalent among low income earners. Overtime, there have been increased evidences showing that the illness is more common among minority groups in the US. Such high incidence of foodborne disease among low income earners and minority groups is estimated to result from poor levels of food services and improper retailing among others (Thorpe et al, 2013). Therefore, this paper explores foodborne illness (E. coli) as an epidemi ological problem among the population in the United States. Disease BackgroundBy definition, foodborne illness is a disease that infects an individual as a result of drinking or eating contaminated food that. Amazingly, this illness has been found to be linked with over two hundred pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, toxins and parasites (Young Waddell, 2016). Some of the common bacteria causing foodborne illness include E. coli, Vibrio spp, Shigella spp, Listeria Monocytognes and Yersinia spp. Parasites causing foodborne disease include Entamoeba histolytica, Toxoplasma caris, Giardia lamblia, Trichinella aspiralis, and Cyclospora spp among others. Toxins that cause foodborne include Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringes and Straphylococcus aureas (Ebel et al., 2016).Symptoms of foodborne illness include vomiting and bloody diarrhea which can persist for up to seven days. Other symptoms include fever, backaches, nausea, fatigue and cramps. Noteworthy, what is commonly referred to as stomach flu can sometimes be a serious symptom of foodborne disease. Foodborne illness has an incubation period of not more than seven days. Studies have shown that raw foods including animal products such as raw eggs, raw meat and unpasteurized milk are good candidates for E.coli. Furthermore, vegetables and fruits are also prone to get contaminated when washed with dirty water or during preparation. Moreover, this illness can be spread when a healthy individual consumes raw foods that have been touched by an infected person (Painter et al, 2013). In effect, this disease has become an epidemiological problem in the United States. Reports and studies on E.coli such as those done by the Centre of Disease Control (CDC) indicate that the disease is prevalent and has caused many cases of hospitalization and deaths in the US (Painter et al, 2013). The tables below provide the incidence of foodborne illness acquired both domestically and through other transmission routes. Table 1: Source. (Frias, 2012)
Table 2: Source. (Frias, 2012)
Apart from E. coli, there are other pathogens which cause foodborne illness leading to its high incidence in the US. Some of the major pathogens causing this illness domestically include Salmonella, Norovirus, Clostridium perfringes, Campylobacter spp, and streptococcus aureas (Painter et al, 2013). Tables below show estimated number sickness as caused by individual pathogens in the US. Table 1: Source. (Frias, 2012)
Table 2: Source (Frias, 2012)
Review of Current SurveillanceA number of foodborne illness cases in the US are still going unreported. However, the disease is reported to be more prevalent among minor groups such the poor in the United States (Henao et al, 2015). One thing that has greatly hindered investigation on the outbreak of foodborne disease in the US is absence of traceable contaminated foods. Surveillance is an appropriate and organized collection of data concerning epidemiological problem within a definite population. This process is done differently to various countries and depends on resource availability such as manpower, technical experts, infrastructure as well as the economic status of the country. The major surveillance methods used in the United States include the FoodNet and the routinely national surveillance which uses several illustrations (Young Waddell, 2016). Based on the surveill...