Campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2015 and 2016

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to assess the epidemiological situation of campylobacteriosis in Poland in 2015 and 2016 in comparison to the previous years. MATERIAL AND METHODS The evaluation is based on analysis of data from the annual bulletins „Infectious diseases and poisoning in Poland”, information from individual campylobacter case reports sent to the Department of Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases and Surveillance, NIPH-NIH by regional sanitary-epidemiological stations, information on outbreaks sent by local sanitary-epidemiological stations through the system ROE (Electronic Registry of Epidemic Outbreaks) and data on deaths from the Department of Demographic Studies of the Central Statistical Office. RESULTS In Poland in 2015 653 cases of campylobacteriosis were registered, in 2016 – 787 cases. In comparison to 2014: the number of cases in 2015 number of cases remained at he similar level, in 2016 there was 20% increase in the number of cases. The incidence was 1.7/100 000 population in 2015 and 2.05/100 000 in 2016. All cases registered in 2015 were confirmed cases, among those occurred in 2016 there were 773 confirmed cases and 14 probable cases. In both, 2015 and 2016 incidence significantly higher than the average for Poland was in 3 voivodeships: Lubuskie (5.39/100 000 in 2015 and 5.9/100 000 in 2016), Warmińsko-Mazurskie (4.78 and 4.03) and Śląskie (4.43 and 4.47). The overall proportion of hospitalizations was higher than in previous years – 75.5% in 2015 and 77.1% in 2016. In both 2015 and 2016 Campylobacter species was determined in more than 80% of cases, among them above 90% of infections were caused by C. jejuni. As in previous years most cases occurred among children aged from 0 to 4. In 2015 there were 4 outbreaks of campylobacteriosis, in 2016 – 5 outbreaks. CONCLUSIONS In Poland there is continuous increase in number of registered campylobacteriosis cases but diagnosis and reporting is overall rare. Routine Campylobacter diagnosis is performed only in some poviats what makes assessment of epidemiological situation in a country not possible to conduct.