Aetiology, risk factors and microbiota composition in children with prolonged diarrhoea: A prospective case-controlled cohort study.
Acta Paediatr
; 113(3): 598-605, 2024 03.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38129967
ABSTRACT
AIM:
Prolonged diarrhoea (ProD) refers to acute-onset diarrhoea that persists for longer than 1 week. As the aetiology, risk factors and management are poorly defined, we prospectively enrolled children hospitalised in a high-income setting to assess these outcomes and investigate the potential role of gut microbiota.METHODS:
All children aged 30 days to 14 years admitted for acute-onset diarrhoea lasting 7-14 days were included. Children consecutively admitted in the same period for acute diarrhoea (AD) served as controls. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons was used to analyse stool samples from a subset of patients and healthy controls.RESULTS:
Sixty-eight with ProD and 104 with AD were enrolled. Intestinal infections were the main aetiology of diarrhoea in both groups (ProD 92.9% vs. AD 97.8%). ProD children showed a higher prevalence of bacterial infections compared to AD (30.8% vs. 8.9%, p = 0.024). Neither age, host-related factors, nor microbiome alterations were specifically linked to ProD. However, ProD children had a more severe initial clinical presentation than AD.CONCLUSION:
ProD is often the result of an unusually severe intestinal infection that runs a course longer than expected but generally resolves without further problems. No specific management or therapies should be undertaken in most cases.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Cytochrome P-450 CYP2B1
/
Microbiota
Limits:
Child
/
Humans
/
Infant
Language:
En
Journal:
Acta Paediatr
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Italy