Ethnic inequalities in campylobacter infection in Birmingham, UK: descriptive study of notified cases
- S Manaseki1,
- J Hawker1,
- S Ali2
- 1Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK
- 2South Birmingham Primary Care Trust, Kings Heath, Birmingham, UK
- Correspondence to: Dr J Hawker Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; j.i.hawkerbham.ac.uk
- Accepted 19 August 2003
Food poisoning is the most commonly notified infection in the UK and campylobacter is the most commonly identified microbial cause of those notifications.1 In Birmingham, a multiethnic city in England, there were 1209 statutory notifications with laboratory confirmation of Campylobacter sp in 2001 and, unlike for salmonellosis, there is no evidence of any substantial decrease in cases in recent years. Despite this, the epidemiology of campylobacter infection is poorly understood. We analysed ethnic differences in notification rates by age in Birmingham in response to local observations.
PARTICIPANTS, METHODS, AND RESULTS
In Birmingham, all laboratory diagnosed cases of campylobacter infection are reported by laboratories to the “proper officer”. All such symptomatic cases from 1987 to 1997 (inclusive) were analysed. The validated Nam Pechan computer program2 was used to attach ethnicity to surname and first name of the cases. Names were …
