Aetiology of acute infectious diarrhoea in a private hospital in Colombia

Although the importance of diarrhoea as a prime cause of morbidity and deat h in developing countries is well recognized, the disease burden in Columbi a has never been thoroughly examined. The purpose of this study was to dete rmine which pathogens were associated with infectious diarrhoea in a hospit al in Santafe de Bogota, Columbia. 471 children with diarrhoea and 150 cont rol children without diarrhoea were examined. The following pathogens were isolated from both diarrhoeal and control stools: enteropathogenic Escheric hia coli (EPEC A) (131 versus 13 respectively), enteropathogenic E. coli (E PEC B) (13 versus 0), Salmonella spp. (29 versus 0), Campylobacter spp. (7 versus 0), Aeromonas spp. (1 versus 0), Entamoeba histolytica (57 versus 4) , Giardia lamblia (1 versus 1), Blastocystes hominis (40 versus 39) and rot avirus (93 versus 19). Overall, E. coli (30.7%) and rotavirus (19.7%) were the most common pathogens, followed by E. histolytica (12.1%) and B. homini s (8.49%). EPEC A and B were significantly associated with diarrhoea in the diarrhoea group as a whole, particularly in infants up to 1 year. Only EPE C strains of the traditional serogroups were apparently significantly assoc iated with diarrhoea. The serogroups detected were 0111 : K58 (66 children) , 055 : K59 (43 children) and 026 : K60 (14 children). These data justify t he establishment of epidemiological measures and epidemiological studies fo r the control of acute diarrhoea in paediatric patients in Bogota Columbia. Med Sci Res 27:29-32 (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.