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A Small Outbreak of Food Poisoning Among Attendees of a Public Health Thesis Examination Conference

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 July 2015

Wasana Kaewla*
Affiliation:
Public Health Curriculum, Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand
Viroj Wiwanitkit
Affiliation:
Public Health Curriculum, Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand
*
Address correspondence to Wasana Kaewla, Public Health Curriculum, Surin Rajabhat University, Surin, Thailand (wasanak3@hotmail.com).
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Abstract

Type
Letters to the Editor
Copyright
© 2015 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved 

To the Editor—Food poisoning is an important gastrointestinal problem and outbreaks are commonly reported. However, outbreaks of food poisoning in medical centers are rarely reported.Reference Vinnard, Lee and Linkin 1 Reference Metz, Jahn, Kohnen, Viertel and Jansen 3 For example, Chávez-de la Peña et alReference Chávez-de la Peña, Higuera-Iglesias and Huertas-Jiménez 2 and Metz et alReference Metz, Jahn, Kohnen, Viertel and Jansen 3 reported outbreaks of Salmonella gastroenteritis among hospital staff. One interesting situation involves outbreaks that occur during medical school conferences.Reference Vinnard, Lee and Linkin 1 Herein, the authors report a small outbreak of food poisoning that occurred among attendees of a public health thesis examination conference. During the 6-hour examination, several deserts were served to the attendees. After the conference, a medical professor and a student developed acute symptoms of food poisoning. The professor had more severe symptoms with many episodes of diarrhea and vomiting. A previous report by Vinnard et alReference Vinnard, Lee and Linkin 1 detailed a similar outbreak among medical conference attendees. Vinnard et alReference Vinnard, Lee and Linkin 1 found “multiple food source contamination as the source of the outbreak.”Reference Vinnard, Lee and Linkin 1 (p73) In the present case, the exact microbiologic cause of contamination could not be determined because no samples of the contaminated food were available for study. Indeed, most medical centers and hospitals prepare their own food, so adherence to food cleanness and safety standards is expected. However, during a conference, food is typically catered from outside sources and contamination is possible.Reference Metz, Jahn, Kohnen, Viertel and Jansen 3

Acknowledgments

Financial support. None reported.

Potential conflicts of interest. Both authors report no conflicts of interest relevant to this article.

References

1. Vinnard, C, Lee, I, Linkin, D. Successful control of a norovirus outbreak among attendees of a hospital teaching conference. Am J Infect Control 2012;40:7374.Google Scholar
2. Chávez-de la Peña, ME, Higuera-Iglesias, AL, Huertas-Jiménez, MA, et al. An outbreak of Salmonella gastroenteritis among hospital workers. Salud Publica Mex 2001;43:211216.Google Scholar
3. Metz, R, Jahn, B, Kohnen, W, Viertel, A, Jansen, B. Outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis gastrointestinal infections among medical staff due to contaminated food prepared outside the hospital. J Hosp Infect 2001;48:324325.Google Scholar