Campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2017

The aim of this study is to assess the epidemiological situation of campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2017 in comparison to previous years.

The evaluation is based on analysis of data from the annual bulletin “Infectious diseases and poisoning in Poland”, information from individual campylobacter case reports sent by local sanitary-epidemiological stations through the Electronic Registry of Epidemiological Forms (System Rejestracji Wywiadów Epidemiologicznych - SRWE), information on outbreaks shared through the Electronic Registry of Epidemic Outbreaks (Rejestr Ognisk Epidemicznych - ROE) and data on deaths from the Department of Demographic Studies of the Central Statistical Office.

There were 874 registered cases in Poland in 2017, all of them were confirmed cases. Incidence for Poland was 2.27/100 000 population. The highest incidence was observed in lubuskie voivodeship (7.57/100 000), małopolskie (4.64/100 000), śląskie (4.31/100 000) and warmińsko-mazurskie (3.48/100 000). In 2017 increasing trend of proportion of hospitalization was identified again. The rate was on 80% level. Campylobacter species was identified in 89% of all reported cases. Similarly to previous years, vast majority of cases was caused by Campylobacter jejuni - 91%. Among all reported cases, majority of them (72%, 629 cases) was identified in children aged 0-4. In 2017 one campylobacteriosis outbreak was reported.

Campylobacteriosis in Poland is still underreported and rarely diagnosed. Routine Campylobacter diagnosis is performed only by laboratories in small number of poviats which make it way harder to properly assess the campylobacteriosis epidemiological situation in Poland.