Lack of association between long-term illness and infectious intestinal disease in New Zealand

Abstract

Aims: To investigate whether the increase in notified cases of infectious intestinal disease in New Zealand from 1988 to 2001 has resulted in a concurrent increase in associated secondary illness cases.

Methods: National surveillance system data were compared to hospital discharge data.

Results: No statistically significant correlation between the number of cases of campylobacteriosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) was found. There was no statistically significant correlation between the number of cases of campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis, shigellosis, and any of the categories of reactive arthritis; apart from two correlations with campylobacteriosis: with arthropathy associated with Reiter's disease and nonspecific urethritis (Pearson correlation R2=0.69; p<0.02) and unspecified infective arthritis (Pearson correlation R2=0.75; p<0.008). The later category is likely to include cases of both infective and non-infective aetiology.

Conclusion: In New Zealand, infectious intestinal diseases are not making a significant contribution to the burden of hospitalisation for reactive arthritis or GBS.