Foodborne infections

The role of foodborne infections in the health of the population has become of major concern recently. Numerous agents are transmitted in food and wat er and typically result in acute gastroenteritis, although long-term compli cations such as reactive arthritis (due to Salmonella, Yersinia, and Shigel la organisms), Guillain-Barre: syndrome (due to Campylobacter organisms), a nd renal failure (due to Escherichia coli) are now well recognized. The dev elopment of FoodNet to follow the epidemiology of select foodborne infectio ns in the United States has been a major advance in recent years and is now beginning to show interesting trends. Our understanding of the pathogenesi s of some of the major foodborne pathogens, especially Salmonella, is advan cing and the genome sequencing of these organisms will advance the field fu rther. Of particular concern of late is the increasing number of antibiotic -resistant bacterial isolates, especially for Salmonella and Campylobacter. Irrespective of their cause, these changes in susceptibility patterns pose a major threat to the appropriate treatment of patients. Overall, our know ledge of foodborne infections is advancing rapidly, but new factors such as the emergence of antibiotic resistance means that vigilance must be mainta ined. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.