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. 1980 Dec;55(12):923–928. doi: 10.1136/adc.55.12.923

Summer diarrhoea in African infants and children.

R M Robins-Browne, C S Still, M D Miliotis, N J Richardson, H J Koornhof, I Freiman, B D Schoub, G Lecatsas, E Hartman
PMCID: PMC1627199  PMID: 6257185

Abstract

Of 70 black South African infants and children with acute summer diarrhoea, 30 (43%) were infected with enteropathogenic serogroups of Escherichia coli (EPEC), 13 (19%) with enterotoxigenic Gram-negative bacilli, 12 (17%) with Salmonella sp., 6 (9%) with Shigella sp., and 3 (4%) with rotaviruses. 13 (19%) patients were infected simultaneously with more than one enteropathogen, and no pathogen was detected in 22 (31%). In addition, 6 (15%) of 41 unselected patients were excreting Campylobacter fetus. Of 30 age-matched controls drawn from the same population, 5 (17%) were infected with EPEC serotypes, and 1 each with Salmonella sp. and rotavirus. This study stresses the polymicrobial nature of paediatric diarrhoea in a developing community and shows the continued importance of EPEC in this setting.

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Selected References

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