title: Summer diarrhoea in African infants and children.
abstract: Of 70 black South African infants and children with acute summer diarrhoea, 30 (43%) were infected with enteropathogenic serogroups of Escherichia coli (EPEC), 13 (19%) with enterotoxigenic Gram-negative bacilli, 12 (17%) with Salmonella sp., 6 (9%) with Shigella sp., and 3 (4%) with rotaviruses. 13 (19%) patients were infected simultaneously with more than one enteropathogen, and no pathogen was detected in 22 (31%). In addition, 6 (15%) of 41 unselected patients were excreting Campylobacter fetus. Of 30 age-matched controls drawn from the same population, 5 (17%) were infected with EPEC serotypes, and 1 each with Salmonella sp. and rotavirus. This study stresses the polymicrobial nature of paediatric diarrhoea in a developing community and shows the continued importance of EPEC in this setting.
mesh_terms: D002168:Campylobacter fetus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000382:microbiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012401:Rotavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012475:Salmonella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012621:Seasons; D012760:Shigella / Q000302:isolation & purification; D013019:South Africa