A study of recorded cases of foodborne diseases at Hyderabad during 1984 and 1985.

Foodborne diseases are a health hazard and a cause of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Surveillance of foodborne diseases is neglected in India as in most developing countries. A study of case reports for 2 years in a referral hospital is reported. Most of the outbreaks (88%) were found to involve 2-10 persons. About 52% of those affected were found to be below 14 years of age. A seasonal character was observed with more outbreaks being recorded in summer months. Twenty-three per cent of the incidents were observed to occur at home. The predominant symptom in these outbreaks was vomiting with or without diarrhoea. In about 38% of the cases, the vehicle of transmission was not mentioned while in the recorded instances it was stale food (19%); biryani (14%), usually meat preparation with rice; stale biryani (11%) or milk-based sweets (9.5%). The establishment of a National Foodborne Disease Surveillance system is suggested.