title: Age-dependent expression of abdominal symptoms in patients with Yersinia enterocolitica infection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the present study was to determine the relationship between the expression of abdominal symptoms and the age of patients with Yersinia enterocolitica infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four patients with positive fecal cultures of Yersinia enterocolitica participated in the present study. The abdominal symptoms were taken from medical records. Statistical analysis was performed by Mann-Whitney U-test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients with diarrhea were younger than those without diarrhea (P = 0.014). Older children had abdominal pain or irritability more frequently than younger children (P = 0.004).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Yersinia enterocolitica infections, younger children are predisposed to diarrhea and older children are predisposed to abdominal pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Oji General Hospital, Hokkaido, Japan. akira.ehara@nifty.ne.jp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ehara
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Egawa
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kuroki
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Itakura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okawa
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000209:etiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000150:complications / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D015009:Yersinia Infections / Q000150:complications*; D015008:Yersinia enterocolitica