Spectrum of outpatient illness in a school-based cohort in Haiti, with a focus on diarrheal pathogens.
Currently, there are only limited data available on rates of major diagnostic categories of illnesses among Haitian children. We have established a cohort of 1,245 students attending schools run by the Christianville Foundation in the Gressier/Leogane region of Haiti, for whom our group provides primary medical care. Among 1,357 clinic visits during the 2012-2013 academic year, the main disease categories (with rates per 1,000 child years of observation) included acute respiratory infection (ARI) (385.6 cases/1,000 child years of observation), gastrointestinal complaints (277.8 cases/1,000 child years), febrile illness (235.0 cases/1,000 child years), and skin infections (151.7 cases/1,000 child years). The most common diarrheal pathogen was enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (present in 17% of children with diarrhea); Vibrio cholerae O1 and norovirus were the next most common. Our data highlight the importance of better defining etiologies for ARI and febrile illnesses and continuing problems of diarrheal illness in this region, including mild cases of cholera, which would not have been diagnosed without laboratory screening.
Valery E M
VEM
Beau De Rochars
Meer T
MT
Alam
Taina
T
Telisma
Roseline
R
Masse
Sonese
S
Chavannes
Marie G
MG
Anilis
Herold Jean
HJ
Guillaume
Gedeon
G
Gelin
Ericka L
EL
Kirkpatrick
Bernard A
BA
Okech
Thomas A
TA
Weppelmann
Mohammed
M
Rashid
Stephanie
S
Karst
Judith A
JA
Johnson
Afsar
A
Ali
J Glenn
JG
Morris
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002771:Cholera / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D006205:Haiti / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D029322:Norovirus / Q000502:physiology; D010045:Outpatients; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D012574:Schools; D012621:Seasons; D012874:Skin Diseases, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D013334:Students; D041241:Vibrio cholerae O1 / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult