Campylobacter Infection May Increase Risk of Irritable Bowel Syndrome

Persons with a Campylobacter infection have an increased risk of developing irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) compared with persons who do not have a Campylobacter infection, according to new study results.

Postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) is an important sequela of Campylobacter infection, but the US incidence of Campylobacter infection–associated PI-IBS is not well known.

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To determine the incidence, the researchers evaluated data of 4143 patient cases of Campylobacter infection from the MarketScan Research Commercial Claims and Encounters Database between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2014. The patients were matched with 20,491 control participants who had not received a diagnosis of Campylobacter infection, based on age, sex, and length of enrollment.

A new diagnosis of IBS was the study’s primary outcome.

At 1 year, the incidence rate of IBS was 33.1 per 1000 persons among the patients with Campylobacter infection and 5.9 per 1000 persons among the control participants. The unadjusted risk ratio was 5.6 (95% CI, 4.3-7.3).

After adjustment for health care utilization, the Cox proportional hazard ratio was 4.6 (95% CI, 3.5-6.1).

When the analysis excluded persons who received an IBS diagnosis within 90 days, the 1-year incidence rate of IBS was 16.7 per 1000 persons among the patients with Campylobacter infection and 3.9 per 1,000 among the control participants. The unadjusted risk ratio was 4.3 (95% CI, 3.0-6.2).

“The burden of Campylobacter-associated PI-IBS should be considered when assessing the overall impact of Campylobacter infections,” the researchers concluded.

—Melinda Stevens

Reference:

Scallan Walter EJ, Crim SM, Beau B, Griffin PM. Postinfectious irritable bowel syndrome after Campylobacter infection. Am J Gastroenterol. 2019;114(10):1649-1656. doi:10.14309/ajg.0000000000000408.

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