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The Burden of Infectious Gastroenteritis in Elderly Residents and Staff of Long-Term Care Facilities, Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

M. D. Kirk*
Affiliation:
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Sydney, Australia OzFoodNet, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, Sydney, Australia
C. R. M. Moffatt
Affiliation:
OzFoodNet, Australian Capital Territory Health, Sydney, Australia
G. V. Hall
Affiliation:
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Sydney, Australia
N. Becker
Affiliation:
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Sydney, Australia
R. Booy
Affiliation:
Canberra, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
L. Heron
Affiliation:
Canberra, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
R. MacIntyre
Affiliation:
Canberra, the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance of Vaccine Preventable Diseases, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, Australia School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
D. E. Dwyer
Affiliation:
Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia Centre for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia
R. Lindley
Affiliation:
Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
*
Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia (martyn.kirk@anu.edu.au)

Abstract

We estimated the incidence of gastroenteritis in 16 Australian long-term care facilities. During 12 months' surveillance, 245 (96%) of 254 episodes of gastroenteritis among long-term care residents were associated with 17 outbreaks in 11 facilities. Incidence in long-term care residents was 0.64 episodes per 1,000 bed-days (95% confidence interval, 0.29-1.42).

Type
Concise Communcations
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2010

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