The incidence rate of bacterial food poisonings in the Lublin province in the years 1976-1998.

The aim of the paper was to analyse the bacterial poisonings in the Lublin province in the years 1976-1998. The analysis was based on the archive materials of the Regional Unit for Control of Epidemics and Hygiene Promotion in Lublin. To illustrate the discussed issues the exemplifying bacterial food poisonings in closed mass nutrition institutions in 1990 were examined. The studies revealed that the bacterial food poisonings were most frequently caused by Salmonella enteritidis and one of the basic carriers was the food prepared from animal-derived materials. The incidence of Salmonella infections is constantly growing while that of Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium botulinum infections is decreasing. In 1990 closed mass nutrition institutions in which the poisonings occurred had positive pre-infection sanitary scores, according to the hygiene classification sheet, which suggests that their staff followed the sanitary and hygienic regulations on an irregular basis.