Campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2013 and 2014

Evaluation of the epidemiological situation of campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2013 and 2014 in comparison with the situation in the previous years.

The evaluation of the epidemiological situation was carried out on the basis of the analysis of the data contained in the annual bulletins “Infectious diseases and poisonings in Poland” for the years 2012- 2014, extended by the information from the individual questionnaires of diseases and forms of the epidemiological investigations of outbreaks of campylobacteriosis, sent by the sanitary-epidemiological stations to the Department of Epidemiology and also on data from the Department of Demographic Studies of the Central Statistical Office.

In 2013 in Poland it was registered 552 cases of campylobacteriosis, while in 2014 the number of registered cases was 652. It is respectively by almost 30% and 50% more than in 2012. The overall incidence for 2013 was 1.43 and for 2014 it was 1.69 per 100 000. In 2013 all reported cases were classified as confirmed, whereas in 2014 – number of confirmed cases was 650, and two as probable. Both in 2013 and in 2014 incidence much higher than the total for the in three provinces: Śląskie (respectively 3.89 and 4.7/ 100 000), Warmińsko- Mazurskie (4.42 and 3.53/ 100 000) and Lubuskie (3.03 and 4.51/100000) incidence was both in 2013 and 2014 Markedly higher then for the country as a whole. The percentage of hospitalization was higher than in previous years and amounted in 2013 to 71.4% and in 2014 to 74.4%. In 2013 Campylobacter species was identified in more than 83% of patients and in almost 87% in 2014. In 2013 over 77% and in 2014 as much as 82% of cases were caused by C. jejuni, and correspondingly more than 6% and almos 5% by C.coli. As in previous years, the majority of cases, in 2013 - 435 (79%) and in 2014 - 491 (75%) occurred in the age group 0-4. In 2013 therte were recorded two, and 2014 - 7 outbreaks caused by Campylobacter jejuni.

In Poland, despite the gradual improvement in sencitivity of surveillance, campylobacteriosis it is still a disease very rarely diagnosed and reported. Diagnosis of infection with Campylobacter sp. perform laboratories in limited number of counties, which is not sufficient for proper evaluation of the epidemiological situation of the disease in Poland as a whole.