JOURNAL ARTICLE
RESEARCH SUPPORT, N.I.H., EXTRAMURAL
RESEARCH SUPPORT, U.S. GOV'T, NON-P.H.S.
Add like
Add dislike
Add to saved papers

Diarrhea in American infants and young children in the community setting: incidence, clinical presentation and microbiology.

OBJECTIVE: The characteristics and microbiology of the full spectrum of pediatric diarrhea occurring in the U.S. community setting are not well-understood.

METHODS: Six-month prospective cohort study of 604 healthy 6- to 36-month-old children recruited by the Slone Center Office-based Research Network.

RESULTS: The incidence of parent-defined diarrhea was 2.2 episodes per person-year. The median duration of diarrhea was 2 days with a median of 6 stools per episode. Outpatient visits and hospitalization were prompted by 9.7 and 0.3% of episodes, respectively. The most common microorganisms identified in healthy baseline stools were atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (12.2%), enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (3.7%), Clostridium difficile (3.5%) and Clostridium perfringens (2.9%), and each of these was no more common in diarrhea stools. In contrast, all of the viruses analyzed were more prevalent in diarrhea specimens than in baseline specimens: enteric adenovirus (5.7% diarrhea versus 1.4% baseline), rotavirus (5.2% versus 1.4%), astrovirus (3.5% versus 1.4%), Sapporo-like virus (3.0% versus 0.8%) and norovirus (1.9% versus 0.8%). A likely pathogen was detected in 20.6% of diarrhea specimens. Vomiting and > or =16 stools in an episode were predictive of isolating a pathogen from the stool, each with a relative risk of approximately 2.

CONCLUSIONS: Healthy young children in this study experienced more than 2 cases of diarrhea per person-year, but most were brief and do not require medical attention. Although most diarrhea-associated pathogens were viruses, no likely pathogen was found in almost 80% of cases; possible etiologies for these cases include currently unknown gastrointestinal infections, nongastrointestinal illnesses and dietary/environmental factors.

Full text links

We have located links that may give you full text access.
Can't access the paper?
Try logging in through your university/institutional subscription. For a smoother one-click institutional access experience, please use our mobile app.

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

Mobile app image

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app

All material on this website is protected by copyright, Copyright © 1994-2024 by WebMD LLC.
This website also contains material copyrighted by 3rd parties.

By using this service, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.

Your Privacy Choices Toggle icon

You can now claim free CME credits for this literature searchClaim now

Get seemless 1-tap access through your institution/university

For the best experience, use the Read mobile app