A prospective study of nosocomial enteric pathogen acquisition in hospitalized children in south India

Screening for enteric pathogens in stool samples from 249 children under th e age of 36 months, admitted to hospital for non-gastrointestinal disorders , was positive at admission in 41 (16.4 per cent) in a prospective study of enteric pathogen acquisition and diarrhoea in hospitalized children. Infec tion with multiple organisms was found in 31/41 (75.6 per cent) children wh o were positive when screened at admission. Of 194 children who had no ente ric pathogens on admission and could be followed up for 3 days after discha rge, clinical or laboratory data showed nosocomial enteric infections in 39 (20.1 per cent). Presumed nosocomial infection with more than one organism was seen in only two patients and no pathogens were isolated in 14 (35.8 p er cent). Children presenting to hospital may asymptomatically carry enteri c pathogens and potentially act as a source of nosocomial infections. One i n five children admitted into hospital without an enteric infection is at r isk of developing a nosocomial gastrointestinal infection, with rotavirus b eing the most common aetiological agent.