title: Can isolation of Aeromonas hydrophila from human feces have any clinical significance?
abstract: A total of 27,480 stool specimens from 15,548 patients with gastroenteritis were analyzed for bacterial enteropathogens during a 4-year period between 1986-89 at a major referral center in Saudi Arabia. Bacterial pathogens were isolated from 1,152 patients, Salmonella being the most frequent, followed by Campylobacter, Shigella, and Aeromonas hydrophila. The latter bacterium was found in 58 patients; seven of them were associated with other enteric pathogens, but A. hydrophila was the only organism in 51 patients. All had gastrointestinal symptoms, the most common being diarrhea (92%), followed by abdominal pain (68%), fever (37%), and vomiting (27%). Stool specimens from 1,368 control patients were negative for A. hydrophila.
authors.affiliation: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Qadri
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zafar
authors.forename: G C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D002648:Child; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000453:epidemiology