DIARRHEAL DISEASES IN THE WHITE MOUNTAIN APACHES - CLINICAL-STUDIES

Acute diarrhoeal diseases continue to be a major health problem in cer tain underprivileged populations in the United States, including nativ e Americans living in reservations. To describe the features of patien ts with diarrhoeal diseases requiring medical care, those attending th e medical facilities of the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, Whiteriver , Arizona, were studied during 1981-1985. Clinical and aetiological in formation was obtained on 535 patients which constitute a 20% sample o f those attending the outpatient clinic and all 386 patients who requi red 550 hospitalizations. Rotavirus, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, and Shigella were the most common aetiologic agents, a pattern simila r to that seen in the developing countries. The clinical features of d iarrhoeal illness and the frequent associated occurrence of acute resp iratory symptoms, however, were remarkably similar, regardless of aeti ology.