Work

The pioneering use of a questionnaire to investigate a food borne disease outbreak in early 20th century Britain: Table 1

Year: 2005

Type: article

Abstract: This paper describes the investigation by a British local government board inspector in 1902, H Timbrell Bulstrode, into the cause of an outbreak of enteric fever after a mayoral banquet given at Winchester. This investigation helped to confirm the role of oysters as an agent of transmission of typhoid fever. The data are also reanalysed using a modern approach, which confirmed the role of oysters (odds ratio = 11.2, 95% CI 2.5 to 50.1). This episode is illustrative of the role of British public health inspectors at the turn of the 20th century as well as of the conditions in which the technique of investigating outbreaks of food borne diseases using a standardised menu was developed. Current methods of outbreak investigations that differ from Bulstrode's pioneering work are also discussed.

Source: Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health

DOI: 10.1136/jech.2004.025700

Authors: Alfredo Morabia, Anne Hardy

Institutions: University Hospital of Geneva, Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine, University College London

Language: English

Topic: Salmonella and Campylobacter epidemiology

Subfield: Food Science

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: bronze

OpenAlex ID: W2041926713