Etiology of acute diarrhea among children in Ribeiräo Preto-SP, Brazil

ABSTRACT

To study the main enteropathogens causing diarrhea in the region of Ribeiräo Preto regarding serogroups and serotypes, the feces of 1836 children under 10 years old, from both sexes, attack of acute gastroenteritis, were analysed during a period of 4 years in Adolfo Lutz Institute - Ribeiräo Preto, SP. The pathogens identified by standard methods were the following Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Yersinia spp., and Cryptosporidium spp. Positive samples were 22.8 percent (419) with 1.7 percent association of pathogens. Larger isolates were mainly from children 0 to 11 months old. Enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) was most frequent (8.7 percent) with predominance of serogroup O119 (40.2 percent), followed by Shigella (6.2 percent), 63.6 percent of which S. sonnei