Acute community-acquired diarrhea requiring hospital admission in Swiss children.
In order to ascertain the prevalence of agents that cause childhood diarrheal illness, stool specimens of 312 consecutive children with community-acquired diarrhea requiring admission were evaluated. Pathogens were detected in 166 (53%) of the 312 children (>/=2 pathogens in 28 children): Rotavirus (n=75), Salmonella spp. (n=37), Campylobacter spp. (n=24), Shigella spp. (n=5), Giardia spp. (n=4), Yersinia spp. (n=2), Aeromonas spp. (n=15), Cryptosporidium (n=15), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (n=13), enterotoxigenic E. coli (n=7), and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (n=5). In conclusion, acute childhood diarrheal illness pathogens, such as Aeromonas, Cryptosporidium, and diarrheagenic E. coli, account for a large proportion of patients with a microbiologically positive stool specimen.
Essers
B
B
Department of Pediatrics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
Burnens
A P
AP
Lanfranchini
F M
FM
Somaruga
S G
SG
von Vigier
R O
RO
Schaad
U B
UB
Aebi
C
C
Bianchetti
M G
MG
D000293:Adolescent; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017714:Community-Acquired Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D012400:Rotavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000821:virology*; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology