title: Reassuringly low carriage of enteropathogens among healthy Swedish children in day care centres.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Infectious gastroenteritis is one of the most common diseases among children and has a considerable impact on health and socio-economy. Day care centres are high-risk environments for infections. The aim of this study was to investigate if asymptomatic preschool children constitute a reservoir for potential enteropathogens.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 438 individual diapers were collected from day care centres in Uppsala, Sweden, during spring and autumn, and molecular techniques were used to estimate the prevalence of asymptomatic carriage of multiple enteropathogens.
  
  
  METHODS
  Faecal samples were analysed with multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (xTAG®Gastrointestinal Pathogen Panel; Luminex Corporation, Toronto, Canada) targeting 21 different pathogens. Samples with a median fluorescence intensity above threshold were re-analysed with a second PCR assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixteen of the 438 samples were positive for enteropathogens, 1.6% for enteric adenovirus, 0.7% for Campylobacter spp., and 0.7% for norovirus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Preschool children in Uppsala constitute a limited reservoir for potential enteropathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kaarme
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hickman
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nevéus
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Blomberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Sciences, Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Medicine, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Electronic address: christina.ohrmalm@medsci.uu.se.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Öhrmalm
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002167:Campylobacter / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000821:virology*; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D029322:Norovirus / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013548:Sweden / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Carriage; Children; Day care centres (DCCs); Enteropathogens; Preschool