Increased risk of zoonotic Salmonella and Campylobacter gastroenteritis in patients with haematological malignancies:...

We hypothesised that haematological malignancies increase the risk of acquiring zoonotic Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis. The population-based study comprised all first-time Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis cases in two Danish counties (1991-2003), with age- and gender-matched controls from the background population. We linked the study cohort to registries to obtain data on malignancies, chemotherapy (yes/no), and main comorbidities diagnosed before Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis. Based on this design, we determined incidence rate ratios (IRR) in conditional logistic regression analyses, and we used weighted mean regression curves to evaluate fluctuations in risk 0-5 years after the malignancy diagnosis. Sixty-eight of 13,324 cases (0.5%) and 29 of 26,648 controls (0.1%) had haematological malignancy before their Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis. Comorbidity-adjusted IRR for Salmonella/Campylobacter gastroenteritis in patients with haematological malignancy as compared to patients without malignancy were 4.46 [95% confidence intervals (CI), 2.88-6.90] for all individuals, 8.33 (95% CI, 4.31-16.1) for Salmonella, and 2.17 (95% CI, 1.15-4.08) for Campylobacter. Stratification on chemotherapy treatment did not change these estimates. In time-related analyses, IRR were 7-8 in the first 2 years after the haematological malignancy diagnosis and 4-5 in the following 3 years. Patients with haematological malignancy had increased long-term risk of enquiring Salmonella or Campylobacter gastroenteritis.