Benincà, EPijnacker, RFriesema, IHMKretzschmar, MFranz, EMughini Gras, L2025-01-172025-01-172025-01-1710.21945/RIVM-2024-0146https://rivm.openrepository.com/handle/10029/628168Each year, RIVM examines how many people become ill or die from gastrointestinal infections in the Netherlands. The study focuses on 14 pathogens known to cause these infections, which can be transmitted through food, human-to-human contact, animals or environmental sources. The disease burden associated with these 14 pathogens in 2023 was higher than in 2022, 2021, and 2020, reaching levels comparable to 2019, the last pre-COVID-19 year. The disease burden is expressed in Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs), an international metric used to quantify the number of healthy years of life lost due to disability or premature death. In 2023, the total number of DALYs resulting from these 14 pathogens was 11,000 DALYs, an increase from 10,000 DALYs in 2022, 9,100 DALYs in 2021, and 7,300 DALYs in 2020. The number of DALYs in 2023 was the same as in 2019 (11,000 DALYs). The fraction of the 2023 disease burden attributable to foodborne transmission was estimated at 4,700 DALYs. This was higher than in 2022 (4,300 DALYs), 2021 (4,200 DALYs), and 2020 (3,600 DALYs), and slightly higher than in 2019 (4,600 DALYs). The total costs associated with the disease burden from the 14 pathogens in 2023 have been estimated at 538 million euros. This was higher than the costs for 2022 (496 million euros), 2021 (411 million euros), 2020 (328 million euros) and 2019 (497 million euros). The estimated costs include direct medical costs, such as hospitalizations, as well as indirect costs incurred by patients and families, such as travel expenses. Additionally, the costs include the losses incurred in other sectors, such as those from absenteeism. The costs due to gastrointestinal infections caused by foodborne transmission in 2023 (217 million euros) were also higher than in 2022 (209 million euros), 2021 (197 million euros) and 2020 (179 million euros) and slightly higher than in 2019 (214 million euros). This study was commissioned by the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The results provide policy-makers with insights into the burden of disease of food-related pathogens. This study also allows monitoring of possible trends in time of the burden of disease caused by foodborne infections, as well as of the associated costsapplication/pdfenRIVM rapport 2024-0146Report2025-01-17