Hands for Hygiene

The CDC says foodborne illness accounts for 76 million illnesses and 5,000 deaths each year, and those figures have been cited in agency documents dating back 10 years or more. The FDA says foodborne illnesses afflict between 6.5 million and 33 million Americans every year, which is also quite a range.

In a collaborative study, however, CDC, FDA and USDA indicated that cases of a particular strain of E. coli infections, one of the most severe foodborne diseases, fell below a national goal set for 2010.

The incidence of E. coli O157:H7 infections decreased 42 percent to 0.9 cases per 100,000 people in 2004 from the 1996-1998 baseline, the report said. The target for 2010 is a limit of one E. coli case per 100,000.

Salmonella illnesses fell 8 percent overall to 14.7 cases per 100,000, but only one of the five most common strains dropped significantly, the report said. The CDC called for further investigation into why some variants tend to contaminate produce during production and harvest. As evidenced by one salmonella strain that was linked to an outbreak from Roma tomatoes last year, the pathogen “is both an animal and a plant problem.”

Campylobacter infections dropped 31 percent to 12.9 cases per 100,000.

“This report is good news for Americans and underscores the importance of investments in food safety. Our efforts are working and we’re making progress in reducing foodborne illnesses,” CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding said in a statement. “However, foodborne disease is still a significant cause of illness in the United States and further efforts are needed to sustain and extend these important declines and to improve prevention of foodborne illnesses.”

USDA Secretary Mike Johanns agreed, saying continued reduction in illnesses from E. coli O157:H7 “is a tremendous success story and we are committed to continuing this positive trend in the future.”

“These results demonstrate that through innovative policies and strong and consistent enforcement of inspection laws, we are protecting the public’s health through a safer food supply,” he added.

More Barks and Bites

The decline in foodborne illness is good news, but there’s another twist. At the same time, however, the FDA’s recently released “Report on the Occurrence of Foodborne Illness Factors in Selected Institutional Foodservice, Restaurant and Retail Food Store Facility Types,” reveals widespread risks of Hepatitis A, cholera and other foodborne illnesses.

FDA conducted spot checks at 900 food-service organizations and found that along with outright contamination, three-quarters of full-service restaurant workers either did not wash their hands or didn’t do so adequately. Nearly a third of hospital food service workers fared the same with soap and water.

And speaking of hospitals, computer keyboards in health care facilities can harbor potentially deadly germs for as long as 24 hours.

A study conducted by Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago indicates that keyboards were deliberately contaminated with vancomycin resistant enterococcus (VRE), methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and pseudomonas aeruginosa (PSAE) bacteria. VRE and MRSA survived for at least 24 hours, while PSAE bacteria survived for an hour.

When volunteers repeatedly tapped a key contaminated with MRSA, the bacteria spread to hands 92 percent of the time. The rates were 50 percent for VRE and 18 percent for PSAE.

Doctors and nurses are supposed to wash their hands after treating patients, but it would seem that they now have to wash after plunking on a PC.

Handy Technology

Researchers found that hospital germicides effectively disinfected keyboards when applied for 5 or 10 minutes, but it’s unclear whether the chemicals are safe for computers; manufacturers recommend only mild soap and water.