Sex and age distributions of persons in foodborne disease outbreaks and associations with food categories

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: P.D. Strassle, Emory University; W. Gu, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Beau Bruce, Emory University; L.H. Gould, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Language: English
• Date: 2019-01-01
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP): STM Journals
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2019.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0950268818003126
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Epidemiology and Infection
• ISSN: 0950-2688
• Volume: 147
• Start Page: e200
• End Page: e200
• Grant/Funding Information: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
• Keywords: Life Sciences & Biomedicine; FRUIT; UNITED-STATES; CONSUMPTION; Infectious Diseases; Science & Technology; TRENDS; HIGH-RISK; sex differences; age differences; GENDER-DIFFERENCES; Public, Environmental & Occupational Health; Foodborne outbreaks; ADULTS; epidemiology; INFECTIONS; SURVEILLANCE
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Public Health

Abstract

Sex and age differences in food preferences may be reflected in the demographics of outbreaks. Outbreaks from 1998–2015 with a single confirmed implicated food source in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System were analysed using logistic regression to assess associations between a food category, sex and age. Males were more likely to be involved in outbreaks attributed to beef, pork, game, dairy and shellfish; females were more likely to be involved in grains-beans, nuts-seeds, fruits, sprouts and vegetable row crops outbreaks. Children <5-years-old were more likely than other age groups to be involved in dairy outbreaks, children 5–19-years-old were most likely to be involved in beef and game outbreaks, adults 20–49-years-old were most likely to be involved in fish, shellfish and sprout outbreaks and adults 50-years-old were most likely to be involved in turkey outbreaks. Age and sex are associated with specific food categories in outbreaks. This information may be useful in helping to identify sources of foodborne disease outbreaks.