title: Acute diarrhoeal diseases in infants aged below six months in hospital in Calcutta, India: an aetiological study.
abstract: In a prospective 2-year study, 218 infants aged less than 6 months admitted to a children's hospital in Calcutta with acute diarrhoea and 102 infants (control group) from the out-patient department of the same hospital with similar age, sex and socio-economic composition as the diarrhoea patients, were concurrently investigated for enteropathogenic agents in the faeces. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, enterotoxigenic E. coli, and enteroadherent E. coli constituted the 3 types of diarrhoeagenic E. coli most frequently (57.4%) detected in the faeces of diarrhoeic infants either as a sole pathogen or in association with other microorganisms. Other enteropathogens detected were rotavirus, Campylobacter jejuni, Salmonella typhimurium and Aeromonas hydrophila. The frequency of detection of various aetiological agents was 72%; in the remaining 28% an infectious aetiology could not be determined. The study suggests that diarrhoeagenic E. coli plays a major role in the causation of acute diarrhoea in infants aged under 6 months in Calcutta.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases, Beliaghata, Calcutta, India.
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Ghosh
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dutta
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sen
mesh_terms: D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000382:microbiology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000150:complications