Diseases transmitted by pathogenic bacteria present in food in South America, review article

Abstract

Introduction. Diseases transmitted by pathogenic bacteria constitute a worldwide public health issue; these affect low and middle-income countries, e.g., South American countries. Objective. To describe the primary diseases transmitted by pathogenic bacteria present in food in South America. Methodology. This article is a literature review; electronic databases from 2016 were used to select scientific articles due to the lack of recent scientific articles. In addition, the PRISMA method was used to classify the information, where 43 studies were included. Results. The most predominant bacterial-transmitted disease was salmonellosis (17/38; 44.7%). The most frequent etiologic agents were Salmonella spp. at 46.5% and E. coli at 25.6%. In Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Chile, salmonellosis was the most prevalent bacteria-borne disease, with 41.7%, 24.5%, 30%, and 50%, respectively, in Paraguay and Brazil, diarrheal syndrome, and Argentina, hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Conclusion. The most predominant bacterial transmitted disease in South America is salmonellosis; the most frequent etiological agents associated with outbreaks were Salmonella spp. and E. coli. Salmonellosis predominates in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, and Chile, while in Paraguay and Brazil, it was a diarrheal syndrome, and in Argentina, hemorrhagic colitis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.