Trip to food store a risk factor for Salmonella

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Exposure to reptiles and being in close proximity to meat and poultry in the supermarket are two modifiable risk factors for Salmonella infection in infants, according to what may be the largest reported study of infant Salmonella infection.

路透社健康版纽约报道 根据一份可能是规模最大的一份婴儿沙门氏菌感染的报告，婴儿沙门氏菌感染有两个随环境发生改变的危险因素：一是接触爬行类动物，二是在超市中紧密接触肉类和禽肉。

Salmonella is estimated to cause 1.4 million illnesses and 400 deaths each year in the United States. "Rates of Salmonella infection are highest in infants, but little is known about potential sources of infection in this high-risk population," note Dr. Timothy F. Jones of the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville and colleagues in the journal Pediatrics for December.

在美国，估计沙门氏菌每年导致140万人患病，400多人死亡。“沙门氏菌传染率在婴儿中是最高的，但是对于该病在高危人群中的潜在传染源还知之甚少。”在纳什维尔的田纳西州卫生部的Timothy F. Jones 博士提醒说，他同时也在12月出任儿科杂志的合伙人。

They assessed diet and environmental exposures in the 5 days before onset of Salmonella infection in 442 infants from eight states and 928 age-matched controls who did not contract Salmonella.

他们从来自8个州的442名婴儿和328个年龄符合防控要求的没有感染过沙门氏菌的人员身上进行在沙门氏菌症发作前五天日常饮食和环境接触的评估。

"Compared with healthy controls, infants with Salmonella infection were less likely to have been breastfed and more likely to have had exposure to reptiles, to have ridden in a shopping cart next to meat or poultry, or to have consumed concentrated liquid infant formula during the 5-day exposure period," they report.

他们报告说，“对比卫生防控制，携带沙门氏菌的婴儿很少有可被母乳喂养和有很大的可能接触爬行动物，曾经骑在购物车上，靠近肉禽，或者在5天暴露期内经服用了婴儿量的浓缩液。”

Travel outside the United States was associated with Salmonella infection in infants 3 to 6 months and older than 6 months of age. Attending day care with a child with diarrhea was also associated with infection in infants older than 6 months of age.

在美国以外旅行与3到6个月的婴儿甚至是6个月以上婴儿感染沙门氏菌症有关系。将一个罹患痢疾的孩子送到托儿所也与6个月大的婴儿传染该病菌有关系。

"Many of the risk factors identified in this study," write Jones and colleagues, "are potentially modifiable through targeted preventive education and behavioral change among the caretakers of infants."

“很多在这项研究中被确认的危险因素，”JONE和他的同事写到，“是潜在的可防控的，需要通过在婴儿护理人员中开展有针对性的预防教育和行为矫正。”

"Attention should be directed at developing practical and effective measures to prevent Salmonella infection in this high-risk population," they conclude.

“应当对制定那些可操作的和有效的防止高危人群中沙门氏菌症的措施予以注意。”

SOURCE: Pediatrics December 2006.