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Acute diarrhea epidemiology and demographics
Introduction
Overview
Overview
In the US, the overall weighted prevalence for acute diarrheal illness corresponded to 0Β·6 episodes per person per year from 1996 to 2003. It has been found that approximately 179 million cases of acute gastroenteritis including 47.8 million cases of food-borne illness, occur each year in the US. The mortality rate due to acute diarrhea has been estimated for all ages to be 17.8 deaths per 100 000 of population. Global mortality rate for children (<5 years) is much higher, with a figure of 74Β·3 deaths per 100β000 of population. Morbidity and mortality of diarrhea differs by location, with the highest rates of under-5 mortality noted in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in particular in Chad (594 deaths per 100β000) and Niger (485 deaths per 100β000).
Epidemiology and Demographics
Epidemiology and Demographics
Incidence
In the US:
- From 1996 to 2003, Center for Disease Controlβs Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) conducted four 12-month random population-based surveys. A total of 52 840 interviews were completed. The overall weighted prevalence for acute diarrheal illness corresponded to 0Β·6 episodes per person per year. [1]
International:
- A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015 estimated that there were 2.39 billion episodes of diarrhea for the year 2015, of which 957.5 million occurred in children younger than 5 years.[2]
- It also reported that from 2005 to 2015, diarrhea incidence decreased by 10.4% in children under-5 and by 5.9% among all ages and both rates of change were less than the declines in mortality rates.[3]
Prevalence
- In the US, approximately 179 million cases of acute gastroenteritis including 47.8 million cases of food-borne illness, occur each year.[4][5]
Mortality rate
- In 2015, diarrhea was responsible for 1.31 million deaths across the globe.
- The mortality rate estimated for all ages was 17.8 deaths per 100 000 of population.[6]
Age
- Children under 5 year of age are affected predominantly when compared to all other age groups.
- Global mortality rate for children (<5 years) in 2015 was 74Β·3 deaths per 100β000 of population.[7]
Race
- In general there is no racial predilection to acute diarrhea.
Gender
- In children (age < 5 years) mortality rate was noted to be slightly different for the two genders. Mortality rate for boys was 74Β·1 deaths per 100β000, and for girls it was 74.5 deaths per 100 000. [8]
Region
- Morbidity and mortality of diarrhea differs by location. The figure below shows all age mortality by geography.
- The highest rates of under-5 mortality was noted in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, in particular in Chad (594 deaths per 100β000) and Niger (485 deaths per 100β000). However, due to their moderate-to-high burden and large populations, India (105β000 deaths) and Nigeria (103β000 deaths) combined had 42% of the 499β000 global under-5 deaths in 2015 due to diarrhea.[9]

References
References
- β Jones TF, McMillian MB, Scallan E, Frenzen PD, Cronquist AB, Thomas S, Angulo FJ (2007). “A population-based estimate of the substantial burden of diarrhoeal disease in the United States; FoodNet, 1996-2003”. Epidemiol. Infect. 135 (2): 293β301. doi:10.1017/S0950268806006765. PMCΒ 2870567. PMIDΒ 17291364.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β DuPont HL (2014). “Acute infectious diarrhea in immunocompetent adults”. N. Engl. J. Med. 370 (16): 1532β40. doi:10.1056/NEJMra1301069. PMIDΒ 24738670.
- β Bresee JS, Marcus R, Venezia RA, Keene WE, Morse D, Thanassi M, Brunett P, Bulens S, Beard RS, Dauphin LA, Slutsker L, Bopp C, Eberhard M, Hall A, Vinje J, Monroe SS, Glass RI (2012). “The etiology of severe acute gastroenteritis among adults visiting emergency departments in the United States”. J. Infect. Dis. 205 (9): 1374β81. doi:10.1093/infdis/jis206. PMIDΒ 22454468.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. Lancet Infect Dis. 17 (9): 909β948. 2017. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. PMCΒ 5589208. PMIDΒ 28579426.
- β Troeger, Christopher; Forouzanfar, Mohammad; Rao, Puja C; Khalil, Ibrahim; Brown, Alexandria; Reiner, Robert C; Fullman, Nancy; Thompson, Robert L; Abajobir, Amanuel; Ahmed, Muktar; Alemayohu, Mulubirhan Assefa; Alvis-Guzman, Nelson; Amare, Azmeraw T; Antonio, Carl Abelardo; Asayesh, Hamid; Avokpaho, Euripide; Awasthi, Ashish; Bacha, Umar; Barac, Aleksandra; Betsue, Balem Demtsu; Beyene, Addisu Shunu; Boneya, Dube Jara; Malta, Deborah Carvalho; Dandona, Lalit; Dandona, Rakhi; Dubey, Manisha; Eshrati, Babak; Fitchett, Joseph R A; Gebrehiwot, Tsegaye Tewelde; Hailu, Gessessew Buggsa; Horino, Masako; Hotez, Peter J; Jibat, Tariku; Jonas, Jost B; Kasaeian, Amir; Kissoon, Niranjan; Kotloff, Karen; Koyanagi, Ai; Kumar, G Anil; Rai, Rajesh Kumar; Lal, Aparna; El Razek, Hassan Magdy Abd; Mengistie, Mubarek Abera; Moe, Christine; Patton, George; Platts-Mills, James A; Qorbani, Mostafa; Ram, Usha; Roba, Hirbo Shore; Sanabria, Juan; Sartorius, Benn; Sawhney, Monika; Shigematsu, Mika; Sreeramareddy, Chandrashekhar; Swaminathan, Soumya; Tedla, Bemnet Amare; Jagiellonian, Roman Topor-Madry; Ukwaja, Kingsley; Werdecker, Andrea; Widdowson, Marc-Alain; Yonemoto, Naohiro; El Sayed Zaki, Maysaa; Lim, Stephen S; Naghavi, Mohsen; Vos, Theo; Hay, Simon I; Murray, Christopher J L; Mokdad, Ali H (2017). “Estimates of global, regional, and national morbidity, mortality, and aetiologies of diarrhoeal diseases: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015”. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 17 (9): 909β948. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(17)30276-1. ISSNΒ 1473-3099.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief:
