Average Annual Number Of Cases Research Articles

Risk assessment for Listeria monocytogenes on lettuce from farm to table in Korea

The risk of listeriosis due to the consumption of lettuce contaminated by Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen with high fatality rate, was estimated using quantitative risk assessment model based on microbiological risk assessment principles and guidelines provided by Codex Alimentarius Commission. The whole food chain of lettuce from farm to table including initial contamination on the farm, growth and cross contamination during transportation, storage and consumption was simulated employing @Risk software and the results showed mean final contamination levels of −1.50 log CFU/g and −0.146 log CFU/g by L. monocytogenes at restaurant and home, respectively. The average number of annual cases in Korea estimated by the quantitative risk assessment model ranged from 559 to 817 based on the different r-values employed in the exponential dose–response model, which means the incidence of listeriosis ranged from 11.9 to 17.4 cases per million persons. Compared to the reported data in some developed countries, the derived results are overestimated. However, the QRAM in this study was conservatively developed, and it was calculated assuming the maximum-dose level as 7.5 log CFU/serving which meant that the worst cases were considered.

Quantitative microbial risk assessment for Escherichia coli O157:H7, salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes in leafy green vegetables consumed at salad bars.

Fresh vegetables are increasingly recognized as a source of foodborne outbreaks in many parts of the world. The purpose of this study was to conduct a quantitative microbial risk assessment for Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and Listeria monocytogenes infection from consumption of leafy green vegetables in salad from salad bars in The Netherlands. Pathogen growth was modeled in Aladin (Agro Logistics Analysis and Design Instrument) using time-temperature profiles in the chilled supply chain and one particular restaurant with a salad bar. A second-order Monte Carlo risk assessment model was constructed (using @Risk) to estimate the public health effects. The temperature in the studied cold chain was well controlled below 5 degrees C. Growth of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella was minimal (17 and 15%, respectively). Growth of L. monocytogenes was considerably greater (194%). Based on first-order Monte Carlo simulations, the average number of cases per year in The Netherlands associated the consumption leafy greens in salads from salad bars was 166, 187, and 0.3 for E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella, and L. monocytogenes, respectively. The ranges of the average number of annual cases as estimated by second-order Monte Carlo simulation (with prevalence and number of visitors as uncertain variables) were 42 to 551 for E. coli O157:H7, 81 to 281 for Salmonella, and 0.1 to 0.9 for L. monocytogenes. This study included an integration of modeling pathogen growth in the supply chain of fresh leafy vegetables destined for restaurant salad bars using software designed to model and design logistics and modeling the public health effects using probabilistic risk assessment software.

Retinoblastoma in Taiwan: The Effect of a Government-Sponsored National Health Insurance Program on the Treatment and Survival of Patients With Retinoblastoma

To assess the effect of a government-sponsored national health insurance program that was implemented in Taiwan in March 1995 on the diagnosis and survival of patients with retinoblastoma. A retrospective chart review of 108 retinoblastoma patients who were treated at the Chang-Gung Medical Center, Taipei, Taiwan, from 1978 to 2003 was performed. Patients diagnosed and treated before March 1995 were compared with those treated after March 1995 in terms of annual number of cases, gender, laterality, age at onset, presenting signs, treatment modalities, and survival rate. The average annual number of cases doubled from 3.3 to 6.5 after the implementation of the national health insurance program, and the age at diagnosis decreased from 29 to 21 months (P = .03). The most common presenting sign was leukocoria in both groups. The Kaplan-Meier survival rate at 5 years increased from 67% to 72%, an effect that was obvious in unilateral cases (70% to 83%) but not in bilateral cases (50% for both time periods). The establishment of a government-sponsored national health insurance program in Taiwan allowed retinoblastoma to be diagnosed earlier, resulting in better survival rates, especially in unilateral cases.

Cost benefit analysis of bovine mastitis in the UK.

Bovine mastitis reduces the yield and quality of milk and increases the rate of culling and veterinary costs. This reduces the profitability of farm milk production but the calculation of the extent of this economic loss is complex because of the many factors involved and deficiencies in the evidence on the relationship between the disease and various production factors. This paper examines the available evidence for the UK and provides a consistent analytical framework within which the benefits arising from reduced mastitis in dairy herds constrained by quota can be considered. It is estimated that since 1970 the farms that have followed the recommended control procedures have reduced the average annual number of cases of clinical mastitis from 135 to 40 cases/100 cows each year, while the quarters remaining uninfected for a whole year has increased from 65 to 80% of the total quarters. The costs of the main control procedures (e.g. 8.60 pounds/cow for dry-cow therapy and teat dipping or spraying) are broadly covered by the reduction in clinical mastitis, leaving the benefits of reduced subclinical infection (e.g. 3810 pounds for a 100 cow herd unconstrained by quota and achieving the average reduction in infection) as a substantial bonus. The imposition of quotas reduces the financial benefit of mastitis control but it still remains a worthwhile investment. The results of this analysis can be used to suggest maximum costs of additional new control measures produced by research. It also indicates that there is considerable value in production research which gives more precise knowledge of production systems, thus allowing producers to respond optimally to quota cuts.

Studies on the Duration of Disabling Sickness: VII. Duration Table for Specific Causes of Disability among Male Workers

The first paper (1) of the series on the duration of disabling sickness and nonindustrial injuries was based on ended cases lasting 8 calendar days or longer that had been reported periodically by 25 industrial sick benefit organizations for the 3-year period, 1935-37. These organizations subscribed to waiting and maximum benefit periods of varying length. The paper presented principally two basic tables showing industrial morbidity by sex and broad cause group. One table gave the average annual number of cases per 1,000 persons causing disability for a specified number of days, t, or more, and the other, the average annual number of days of disability per person resulting from all disabilities contributing t days or less, the t in both instances varying from 8 through 372 days. It had been planned originally to base the present report on the experiences of 8 industrial sick benefit organizations all subscribing to a maximum benefit period of 52 weeks. The pertinent analyses have been made in this connection, and because of the relatively small number of female workers included in the records, attention was restricted to the disability reports on males. Furthermore, the analyses were made specific for waiting period. Six of the organizations had a waiting period of 7 days, 1 organization connected with a public utility company had no waiting period, and 1 whose membership was composed of workers in an oil refining company had no waiting period for salaried workers but a waiting period of several days for the other workers. The results of the analyses of the combined experiences of the 6 organizations with a 7-day waiting period showed the two principal tables presenting frequency and disability rates, respectively, to agree essentially with the corresponding tables published in the earlier paper; the frequency rates as well as the disability rates for each of the other 2 organizations, on the other hand, differed from each other and from those already published. These differences are primarily attributable to differences in the length of the waiting period, since it has been found in earlier experiences that organizations with relatively short waiting periods, or no waiting periods at all, are likely to have a more complete record of the 8-day or longer cases than those organizations with longer waiting periods. The present paper and the succeeding one 2 will, therefore, be