Global frequency of Campylobacter-associated hospitalisations: A systematic review and meta-analyses

BACKGROUND: A minority of Campylobacter infections cause severe morbidity, yet admission rates for patients requiring hospital-based treatment are poorly understood. Our study aimed to quantify the percentage of Campylobacter infections requiring hospitalisation and determine variation by patient subgroups. METHODS: Using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, we performed a systematic review and meta-analyses of globally reported hospitalisation frequencies for Campylobacter infections. We performed a risk of bias assessment, followed by meta-analyses under the assumption of common parameters. Results were interpreted from the Quality Effects (QE) models in MetaXL and the heterogeneity of included studies assessed using chi-square tests. In addition to the primary meta-analysis for Campylobacter infections overall, we conducted subgroup analyses by Campylobacter species, demographic group, clinical group, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) status, start decade of cases and event type (sporadic or outbreak-associated). The study was registered with PROSPERO (CRD42023493466). FINDINGS: A total of 137 articles (containing 235 studies) published from 1979 to 2025 were eligible for meta-analysis. These publications contained 1,377,770 Campylobacter infections for 946 patient groups (data points), primarily from North America, Europe and Oceania. In the pooled analysis of hospitalisation frequencies for Campylobacter infections, 13.8% (95% CI 9.6-18.6) of individuals were hospitalised. Steady increases in hospitalisation frequency were observed over time. In a pooled analysis of data from three studies, species other than C. jejuni or C. coli were associated with a higher frequency of hospitalisation (27.3%; 95% CI 11.0-47.2). Pooled hospitalisation frequencies of males (6.4%; 95% CI 1.4-14.1) and females (6.8%; 95% CI 1.5-15.0) were similar, and patients aged ≥65 years (27.9%; 95% CI 13.5-45.0) and children