Almost 60 people in hospital from contaminated Havelock North water

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-12-17 00:01

New Zealand

A new updated study on hospitalisations after the 2016 Havelock North campylobacter outbreak reveals 58 people were in hospital for reasons at least partly due to the outbreak - with some admitted multiple times. This is more than the previously-reported 42 hospitalised individuals, and common serious health problems included dehydration and acute kidney injury. The authors say campylobacter-caused illness can have persisting serious health effects, including on the risk of death, for medically vulnerable people.

Media release

From: New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA)

Summary
This paper is an updated analysis of hospitalisations associated with the 2016 Havelock North Campylobacter outbreak (HNCO). It highlights the serious health impacts that occurred from this outbreak, including an estimated 67 hospital admissions among 58 individuals that were at least partially attributable to the HNCO.

Key Points

**This updated analysis found 67 hospital admissions among 58 Hawke’s Bay District Health Board residents that were at least partially attributable to the Havelock North Campylobacter Outbreak.

**Older age and medical comorbidity were key risk factors for hospitalisation.

**Dehydration, electrolyte imbalance and acute kidney injury were very common among hospitalised patients.

**When age and medical comorbidity were taken into account, there was no significant difference in the proportion of all-cause deaths at eight weeks and one year in hospitalised cases compared to non-hospitalised cases.

Journal/
conference: New Zealand Medical Journal

Organisation/s: ESR (Institute of Environmental Science and Research Ltd), University of Otago, Hawke's Bay District Health Board; Eastern Institute of Technology; Christchurch Hospital;

Funder: This work was supported by Hawke’s Bay District Health Board and by the Health Research Council of New Zealand (Grant Reference: 17/911).

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