Prospective study of enteropathogens in two communities of Misiones, Argentina

Abstract

Children under five years of age, from two communities of different socio-economic strata (97 from Zaiman and 55 from Las Dolores) were examined epidemiologically during 2 years, by means of quarterly visits of the working team, who carried out the collection of faecal samples. During the study, one or more enteropathogens were identified in 73.9% of samples in children from Zaiman and in 58.3% of the samples from Las Dolores, being associated to diarrhoea in 70.5% and to asymptomatic infections in 65.7%. The number of diarrheic episodes was higher in Zaiman (15.45%) than in Las Dolores (12.35%), being more frequent in the spring-summer seasons. In Zaiman, the bacterial enteropathogen proportion was relevantly higher (p < 0.005) in children with diarrhoea, whereas the presence of parasites was more frequent in asymptomatic children (p < 0.01). Rotavirus had an even distribution within diarrheic and asymptomatic children. In Las Dolores, no relevant differences were found in the detection of enteroparasites between diarrheic and asymptomatic children. Mixed infections were detected; enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC)-rotavirus and ETEC-parasites being the most frequent ones. ETEC was involved in 85% of these infections. These data, together with the high enteropathogen carriage, suggest an elevated level of environmental contamination. The latter plays an important role in diarrheic diseases, and added to the most extreme poverty, it affects children's lives.

Aetiology and factors associated with bacterial diarrhoeal diseases amongst urban refugee children in Eastleigh, Kenya: A case control study

“…Together, these known pathogens were more common among cases than controls, supporting their aetiological role. These findings agree with a previous study amongst children in Kenya and Senegal, 12,13 as well as studies done in Bangladesh and Argentina, 14 which determined that ETEC, Salmonella spp. and Shigella spp.…”

Enfermedad diarreica aguda por Escherichia coli enteropatógenas en Colombia

“…Reportes recientes en la región del Caribe Colombiano indican que la frecuencia es del 7.5% del total de diarreas 69,70 . Aunque la diarrea por E. coli es mucho más frecuente en países de bajos ingresos donde puede ser de hasta el 50% del total de casos, la frecuencia de este agente es en otros países de Latino América como Argentina, México y Brazil varía entre el 6 y el 28% 71-73 .…”

Profiles of enteropathogens in asymptomatic children from indigenous communities of Mérida, Venezuela

“…It has been recognized that in developing countries, enteric pathogens can frequently be encountered in healthy children, making it more difficult to determine their true etiological role in the diarrhoeal disease [7,13,18,19]. This is the first study conducted among asymptomatic indigenous children from Mérida, Venezuela, to assess the profile of enteropathogens and their relationship with socioeconomic factors.…”

“…Several reports have confirmed that viruses, parasites and bacteria can be involved in the etiology of infectious diarrhoeal disease in children [4]. Nevertheless, the epidemiological characteristics, etiologic agents, and clinical presentation of diarrhoea vary depending on the country, region or community, as well as on the racial or ethnic group [5][6][7].…”