Situación epidemiológica de las enfermedades transmitidas por alimentos en Santiago de Chile: período 1999-2000 / Survey of foodborne diseases in the Metropolitan Area of Chile

Background: Foodborne diseases are becoming an important cause of morbidity in Chile. In the Metropolitan Region of Chile, the Environmental Health Service started a surveillance program for foodborne diseases in 1994. In 2000, this program was complemented with an etiologic study of individuals involved in outbreaks. Aim: To report the incidence of foodborne outbreaks in the Metropolitan Region of Chile and its causative agents. Results: One hundred ninety outbreaks of foodborne diseases were reported in 1999 and 260 in 2000. The Southern Metropolitan health service had the higher incidence rates (7.5 in 1999 and 8.2 in 2000). The mean attack rates were 25 percent in both periods, affecting 1248 individuals in 1999 and 1774 in 2000. In 18 percent of outbreaks, a pathogen was identified; the most frequent agents were Salmonella Spp, Staphylococcus aureus and Shigella. In 15 percent of subjects, the cause was histamine or chemical agents. In the rest of the cases, the cause was not identified. The foods with higher risk of causing foodborne diseases were hot prepared dishes, home made goat cheese and meats. Conclusions: The incidence rates of foodborne disease in Metropolitan Area of Chile are high and maybe underestimate, only in a low rate of outbreaks was possible to have samples for etiologic studies. For a better understanding of this problem, timely notification of foodborne diseases must be encouraged and educational campaigns about the proper manipulation of food items must be implemented

Detección de citotoxinas de escherichia coli enterohemorrágica en productos cárnicos chilenos e importados / Detection of shiga-like toxin producing escherichia coli in chilean and imported meat products

Escherichia coli enterohemorrágica (ECEH) está catalogada como un patógeno emergente asociado al consumo de carnes contaminadas. Con el fin de establecer la importancia de los alimentos cárnicos chilenos e importados de venta libre en Santiago de Chile en la transmisión de infecciones por ECEH, se determinó la presencia de citotoxina stx1 y stx2 en dichos alimentos. Se analizaron 213 muestras cárnicas (157 chilenas y 56 importadas) por una prueba de inmunoensayo enzimático Premier, EHEC (Meridian Diagnostics Inc, Cincinnati, U.S.A.). Del total analizado, 9 (4,2 por ciento) muestras que correspondieron a 5 de carne de vacuno chilena, 2 de hamburguesas chilenas y 2 de carne de vacuno paraguaya, presentaron valores positivos a la presencia de citotoxina(s). De acuerdo a estos resultados, es necesario mantener el control microbiológico de ECEH en estos alimentos, con el fin de prevenir la aparición de brotes de intoxicación alimentaria en el país