Brazilian Foodborne Disease National Survey: Evaluating the Landscape after 11 Years of Implementation to Advance Research, Policy, and Practice in Public Health

The poor control of public and private agencies regarding the quality of foods offered to populations has a significant impact on the occurrence of foodborne diseases. Precise information about foodborne diseases (FBD) can adequately inform policy-makers and help to allocate appropriate resources for the control of food safety. This study aimed to evaluate the Brazilian foodborne disease landscape after 11 years of implementation of the Epidemiological Surveillance System of Foodborne Diseases. The study analyzed secondary data from the National System of Injuries and Notifications (SINAN-NET), available from the Health Department. We evaluated the characteristics of FBD, such as the food involved, the location of ingestion, the total time to the outcome investigation, the microorganism involved and deaths. We also calculated the global incidence, mortality and lethality rates of the country. There were 7630 FBD outbreaks in the National Epidemiological Surveillance System of Foodborne Diseases (VE-DTA). Of the registered reports, a total of 134,046 individuals were sick with FBD; 19,394 were hospitalized, and there were 127 registered deaths. We found a coefficient of incidence of FBD of 67.57 per 100,000 inhabitants; a mortality coefficient of 0.06 per 100,000 inhabitants and lethality of 0.09% over the 11 years investigated. Data are probably underreported since the VE-DTA system lacks completeness, and because FBD symptoms are mostly mild, a large part of the population does not seek care from health services.