title: The microbiology of childhood gastroenteritis: Aeromonas species and other infective agents.
abstract: A prospective, 12-month study of 975 non-Aboriginal children with diarrhea and age- and sex-matched children without diarrhea, in Perth, Western Australia, was designed to investigate the significance of enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species as a cause of diarrhea. Enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species were found in the fecal specimens of 10.8% of the patients with diarrhea but in only 0.7% of those without diarrhea. Most Aeromonas species were isolated during the summer. Other important bacterial pathogens included Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; rotavirus infections appeared to be much less important in the Western Australian environment. Most of the patients were younger than two years of age and about one-quarter had mixed bacterial and/or viral intestinal infections. Enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species can be identified with 97% accuracy using a simple hemolysin assay which should be considered for use by routine diagnostic laboratories, particularly in children's hospitals.
mesh_terms: D000333:Aeromonas / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification; D000818:Animals; D001315:Australia; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*; D002169:Campylobacter Infections / Q000150:complications; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004405:Dysentery, Bacillary / Q000150:complications; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D005873:Giardiasis / Q000150:complications; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000150:complications; D012480:Salmonella Infections / Q000150:complications