Older adults at risk of complications from microbial foodborne illness

摘要

Although younger individuals usually face far higher rates of infection from foodborne pathogens (bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses, and their toxins), older adults, along with the very young and the immuno-compromised, are more likely to have some of the more severe complications from these infections. In particular, some research has shown that the elderly are more vulnerable to gastroen-teritis-induced deaths. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) FoodNet surveillance system show that for some pathogens, older adults have lower culture-confirmed rates of infection than most or all of the other age groups, despite many age-related factors, such as decreased immune functioning and decreased stomach acid production, that predispose older persons to gastrointestinal infections and their more severe complications. These low rates may be partly due to older persons being more careful about food handling and food consumption than younger persons. Culture-confirmed rates of infection for people over age 60 range from 0.1 cases per 100,000 people for Vibrio and Cyclospora to 10.8 cases per 100,000 people for Salmonella. The infection rates for all Americans range from 0.04 cases per 100,000 people for Cyclospora to 17.4 cases per 100,000 people for Salmonella. Preliminary new FoodNet data from a separate telephone survey on diarrheal disease indicate that adults over the age of 65 have the lowest prevalence of diarrheal disease of any age group for monitored pathogens.