The microbial aetiology of summer paediatric gastroenteritis at Ga-Rankuwa Hospital in South Africa

East Afr Med J. 1993 Feb;70(2):78-81.

Abstract

Stool material from seventy-eight children below the age of three years was examined for the presence of various enteropathogens. The patients had been admitted to the Ga-Rankuwa hospital for rehydration therapy. A causative agent was identified in 76.9% of the cases studied. The most prevalent organisms identified were 38.5% entero-toxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), 25.6% Cryptosporidium parvum, 15.4% Campylobacter sp., 14.1% enteric adenoviruses and 12.8% rotavirus. In 38.5% of cases, a mixed infection was observed with up to four different organisms being identified from a single patient. ETEC elaborating heat-labile toxin (LT) found together with C. parvum was the most common combination seen in mixed infections.

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Dehydration / epidemiology
  • Dehydration / etiology
  • Feces / microbiology
  • Female
  • Fluid Therapy
  • Gastroenteritis / complications
  • Gastroenteritis / epidemiology*
  • Gastroenteritis / microbiology
  • Gastroenteritis / therapy
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Infant
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Male
  • Patient Admission
  • Seasons
  • South Africa / epidemiology