Bacterial, viral and parasitic enteric pathogens associated with acute diarrhea in hospitalized children from northern Jordan

To determine the etiology of acute diarrhea in Jordanian children under 5 y ears of age, we examined stool samples From 265 children admitted to the pe diatric ward at Princess Rahma Hospital for Children, Irbid, Jordan: for pa rasites, rotavirus and enteric bacteria. Using both traditional and molecul ar diagnostic techniques, we detected enteropathogens in 66.4% of patients with diarrhea. A single enteric pathogen was detected in 50.9% of the child ren, and multiple pathogens were detected in 15.5%. The prevalence of enter opathogens identified was as follows: rotavirus (32.5%), enteropathogenic E scherichia coli (12.8%), enteroaggregative E. coli (10.2), enterotoxigenic E. coli (5.7%), Shigella spp. (4.9%), Entamoeba histolytica (4.9%), Salmone lla spp. (4.5%), Campylobacter jejuni/coli (1.5%), Cryptosporidium spp. (1. 5%). enteroinvasive E. coli (1.5%), eae-, Ehly-positive E. coli (0.8%), Gia rdia lamblia (0.8%) and Yersinia enterocolitica (0.4%). No Vibrio cholerae, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, microsporidia, adenovirus or small round vi rus were detected. Findings from this study demonstrate that rotavirus and several types of diarrheagenic E. roil, which are not screened for during r outine examinations of stool samples in public health laboratories, were th e most frequently detected enteropathogens in these children. Our Findings highlight the value of using a combination of traditional and molecular tec hniques in the diagnosis of diarrheal disease in this population. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science B.V. on behalf of the Federation of European Microbiological Societies.