Table 1. Distribution of study population and number (%) of bacterial gastrointestinal pathogens during the study period 2008–2010 and 2012–2013, Belgium*.
| Characteristics |
2008 (%) |
2009 (%) |
2010 (%) |
2012 (%) |
2013 (%) |
5-y period (%) |
| Eligible samples | 1,819 | 1,843 | 1,612 | 2,229 | 1,491 | 8,994 |
| Included | 1,375 (76) | 1,374 (75) | 1,112 (69) | 1,768 (79) | 1,145 (77) | 6,774 (75) |
| Excluded |
444 (24) |
469 (25) |
500 (31) |
461 (21) |
346 (23) |
2,220 (25) |
| Pathogens identified | ||||||
| Included patients | ||||||
| Campylobacter spp. | 64 (4.7) | 54 (3.9) | 68 (6.1) | 85 (4.8) | 109 (9.5) | 380 (5.6) |
| Salmonella spp. | 29 (2.1) | 32 (2.3) | 28 (2.5) | 26 (1.5) | 23 (2.0) | 138 (2.0) |
| Clostridium difficile† | 26 (1.9) | 19 (1.4) | 17 (1.5) | 18 (1.0) | 29 (2.5) | 109 (1.6) |
| Arcobacter spp. | 18 (1.3) | 12 (0.9) | 18 (1.6) | 17 (0.9) | 24 (2.1) | 89 (1.3) |
| Arcobacter butzleri | 6 (0.4) | 7 (0.5) | 11 (0.9) | 7 (0.4) | 18 (1.6) | 49 (0.7) |
| Arcobacter cryaerophilus | 12 (0.9) | 5 (0.4) | 5 (0.4) | 10 (0.7) | 6 (0.5) | 38 (0.6) |
| Arcobacter thereius | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.1) | 0 | 0 | 2 (0.03) |
| Aeromonas spp. | 2 (0.1) | 3 (0.2) | 6 (0.5) | 1 (0.1) | 4 (0.3) | 16 (0.2) |
| Yersinia enterocolitica | 1 (0.1) | 4 (0.3) | 1 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 5 (0.4) | 13 (0.2) |
| Shigella spp. | 2 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 3 (0.3) | 2 (0.1) | 0 | 9 (0.1) |
| Plesiomonas spp | 0 | 2 (0.1) | 0 | 0 | 1 (0.1) | 3 (0.04) |
| Excluded patients | ||||||
| Campylobacter spp. | 20 (4.5) | 23 (4.9) | 39 (7.8) | 27 (5.9) | 36 (10.4) | 145 (6.5) |
| Salmonella spp. | 20 (4.5) | 14 (3.0) | 15 (3.0) | 11 (2.4) | 4 (1.2) | 64 (2.9) |
| Clostridium difficile† | 8 (1.8) | 16 (3.4) | 7 (1.4) | 8 (1.7) | 7 (2.0) | 46 (2.1) |
*The study was interrupted for 1 y in 2011. †Toxigenic strains only.