Analysis processes used in VTEC study

Scientists have used quantitative analysis processes to determine the cause of a rare but serious infection.

Verotoxigenic E. coli (VTEC) is the cause of severe gastrointestinal infection especially among infants, the team from Department of Infectious Disease Surveillance and Control in Helsinki reported in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

The scientists claimed that between 10 and 20 people are diagnosed with VTEC each year in Finland, with the team hoping to identify the explanatory variables for VTEC infections reported to the NIDR in Finland between 1997 and 2006.

Using quantitative analysis processes, the scientists created a hurdle model and enrolled the 131 domestically acquired primary cases of VTEC in that nine-year period.

They found that the number of bulls per human population and the proportion of the population with a higher education were associated with an increased occurrence and incidence of human VTEC infections, as was the proportion of fresh water and cultivated land per area.

Posted by Ben Evans