Introduction:

Food borne diseases (ETA) is considered a public health problem due to the physical and economic damage it causes. Objective: To describe the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of ETA outbreaks in Paraguay between 2015 and 2016.

Methodology:

Cross-section descriptive study, with secondary data from the General Directorate of Health Surveillance. MSPyBS. Frequencies, measures of central tendency and proportion were calculated.

Results:

14 outbreaks involved 231 people, 56% women (2015: 47%, 2016: 64%), 52% between 5-14 years (2015: 57%, 2016: 47.5%). The health regions affected in 2015: Asunción (73%) and Central (19.8%), while in 2016: Caaguazú (42.5%) and Asunción (34.2%). In both years, outbreaks were recorded in homes (2015: 14.4%, 2016: 5.8%) and educational institutions (2015: 4.5%, 2016: 35%). In 62.8% (2015-2016) the suspected ingested food is not identified. Vomiting was the most referred symptom in 2015 (54.1%); in 2016 it was abdominal pain (67.9%). 44% of the cases were registered in the epidemiological week (SE) 49 (2015) and 42% in EW 32 (2016).

Conclusion:

For both periods, the characteristics of age and sex were similar. Asunción is among the first sites of greater notification, identifying as place of intake the address or educational institution in both periods. Deficiencies are observed in the registration of suspect food and variations in clinical manifestations and the period of time in which they recorded the highest number of cases (2015: summer, 2016: winter)

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