Twenty-two confirmed cases of Salmonella Infantis were identified in 70 residents of high-level care areas of a residential aged care facility in Sydney in April 2010 during an outbreak of gastroenteritis. A retrospective cohort study was conducted to identify a possible cause. Consuming a soft diet, puréed diet, or thickened fluid were each independently associated with illness. A logistic regression showed consumption of thickened fluid to be the only significant exposure associated with illness (adjusted odds ratio 11·8, 95% confidence interval 1·9–75·9). It was postulated that the thickened fluid had been contaminated by chicken mince, a sample of which also cultured S. Infantis. This finding reinforces the need to educate food-handlers on the risk of potential cross-contamination; it also highlights the need to consider all dietary components, such as thickened fluids, as potential vehicles for transmission in an outbreak.

Epidemiology and Infection / Volume140 / Issue12 / December 2012, pp 2264-2272

Z. Najjar, C. Furlong, N. Stephens, C. Shadbolt, P. Maywood, S. Conaty and G. Hogg

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=8729905