Escherichia coli O157:H7, an emerging gastrointestinal pathogen. Results of a one-year, prospective, population-based study

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Abstract
To examine the incidence of Escherichia coli 0157:H7 enteric infections in the United States and to evaluate the vehicles of transmission for sporadic cases, we conducted a one-year, population-based study at a large health maintenance organization (HMO) in the Puget Sound area of Washington State. All stool specimens submitted for culture to the HMO laboratory were screened for E. coli 0157:H7; the organism was identified in 25 (0.4%) of 6485 stool specimens. All patients with E. coli 0157:H7 identified had diarrhea; 24 patients (96%) had bloody diarrhea. Exposure histories demonstrated that rare ground beef was consumed more often by patients (21%) than by age-matched control subjects (4%) in the week before onset of illness. Raw milk also was consumed by two patients but by none of the control subjects. Incidence rates for laboratory-confirmed enteric infections in the HMO population were as follows: Campylobacter, 50/100 000 person-years; Salmonella, 21/100 000 person-years; E. coli 0157:H7, 8/100 000 person-years; and Shigella, 7/100 000 person-years. The organism is a more common pathogen in the United States than is generally recognized, and the diagnosis should be considered for patients with suspected enteric infection.