Annual economic cost of gastroenteritis estimated at €135m

THE economic burden of gastroenteritis on the island of Ireland is more than €135 million a year.

This was the finding of a study commissioned by Safefood, the Food Safety Promotion Board. It is the first attempt to quantify the cost of gastroenteritis across the island.

The estimated cost, which the authors stress is conservative, represents the potential saving to the economy if measures to prevent all forms of the disease were successful. The cost also provides the benchmark against which potential preventive measures could be assessed.