A 15-year study of the role of Aeromonas spp. in gastroenteritis in hospitalised children.
During a 15-year period, 146 strains of Aeromonas spp. were isolated from 32810 faecal specimens from 13,820 hospitalised patients up to 13 years of age. These isolates constituted 4% of all the pathogenic bacterial strains cultured. For the years 1978-1988, the files of children with gastro-enteritis revealed 81 whose faeces yielded Aeromonas spp. Most of them (94%) were < 3 years of age, 78% < 1 year old. The peak incidence was at 2-6 months, involving severe morbidity including dehydration and vomiting with acidaemia and azotaemia; the mean duration of illness and length of hospitalisation at this age were longer than at other ages. Bloody diarrhoea was found in 7% of the children. Almost all the strains of Aeromonas were resistant to ampicillin. We conclude that Aeromonas spp. are of aetiological significance in gastro-enteritis in small children; culture for this pathogen should be routine in the bacteriological examination of faeces.
Gluskin
I
I
Department of Microbiology, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Zerifin, Israel.
Batash
D
D
Shoseyov
D
D
Mor
A
A
Kazak
R
R
Azizi
E
E
Boldur
I
I
D000333:Aeromonas / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors