RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: The frequency of viral, bacterial and parasitic enteropathogens among 270 paediatric patients (< 5 years of age) in various hospitals of Makkah and Jeddah cities of Saudi Arabia were investigated. METHODS: A total of 270 stool samples were collected from paediatric patients with signs and symptoms of gastroenteritis from different hospitals of Makkah and Jeddah cities of Saudi Arabia. Samples were investigated for bacterial, viral and parasitic enteropathogens using microscopic examination, immunological tests and bacterial culture techniques. RESULTS: Out of 270 stool samples tested in this study for various causative agents of gastroenteritis, total number of positive samples were 106 (39%). Of these, 90 (33%) had viral etiology, of which Rotavirus type A (serotype G) was found in the majority of cases 60 (22%), Adenovirus in 20 (7%) patients, and Astrovirus in the remaining 10 (4%) patients. Thirteen (5%) were of bacterial origins of which 9 (3%) were Salmonella species, 4 (2%) were Shigella species and only 3 (1%) of the samples were positive for Giardia lamblia. CONCLUSION: This study indicated that most of the diarrhoeal diseases in young children in Saudi Arabia are due to viral etiology, where Rotavirus was predominant followed by Adenovirus and Astrovirus. While Salmonella and Shigella represent the bacterial etiology of paediatric acute diarrhoea and only Giardia lamblia was found as a parasitic cause of diarrhoea in young children in our study.