Gastroenteritis is caused by a variety of viral, bacterial, and parasitic
pathogens.
In the USA, incidence rates for diarrhoea are 1-2.5 episodes per child per
year, which annually leads to approximately 38 million cases, 2-3.7 million
physician visits, 320,000 hospitalizations, and 325-425 deaths.
In the UK, at least 2 million people a year suffer from an attack of diarrhoea
and/or vomiting due to food poisoning. Most do not consult their doctor and
so the cause is not often found.
Worldwide, there are more than 1 billion cases and at least 4 million deaths
per year attributed to diarrheoa.
Pathogenic food-borne microbes are isolated in only about 1 in 100,000 cases
of gastroenteritis.
Virus infections cause 30-40% of gastroenteritis cases in industrialized
countries. Very few of the infectious agents responsible for these outbreaks
are ever diagnosed.
Estimated costs of food-borne diseases in the USA alone range from 4.8 to
23 billion US dollars per year.
