BACKGROUND Diarrhea causes an estimated 2.5 million child deaths in developing countries each year, 35% of which are due to acute diarrhea. Zinc and copper stores in the body are known to be depleted during acute diarrhea. Our objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of zinc and copper supplementation when given with standard treatment to children with acute watery or bloody diarrhea. METHODS...

We describe the characterization of 126 atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (aEPEC) isolates from 1,749 Brazilian children. Classic aEPEC strains were more frequently found in children with diarrhea than in controls (P < 0.001), showing their importance as acute diarrhea agents in our country. Only aEPEC strains carrying either the ehxA or paa gene were significantly associated with diar...

Rotaviruses and other enteropathogenic agents were detected in 288 (42.1%) of 684 children in day care centers of Instituto Politecnico Nacional in Mexico City. The same agents were also found in 114 (37.7%) of 302 adults directly involved in the care of the children. The study was carried out from July to December 1982 and from July 1983 to February 1984. Rotaviruses were the main enteropathog...

Background: Rotavirus is a major cause of acute diarrhea in children worldwide. It is an important cause of death among young children in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of rotavirus infection in children less than five years old hospitalized for gastroenteritis in Jahrom. Methods: One hundred and two stool samples were collected from children less tha...

BACKGROUND Diarrhea is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in under-five children in developing countries including Ethiopia. Therefore, up-to-date data on etiologic agent and susceptibility pattern are important for the management of bacterial diarrhea in under-five children, which was the main objective of this study. METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted at Hawassa Adare Ho...

The aim of this prospective study was to determine the prevalence of Cryptosporidium parvum in hospitalized children in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. Over a 19 month study period, 258 stool samples were examined from 159 children; 109 with diarrhea and 50 controls without diarrhea. Modified Ziehl-Neelsen staining method and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay were used to detect C. parvum and the s...

Species of Clostridium are widely distributed in the environment, inhabiting both human and animal gastrointestinal tracts. Clostridium difficile is an important pathogen associated with outbreaks of pseudomembranous colitis and other intestinal disorders, such as diarrhea. In this study, the prevalence of Clostridium spp. and C. difficile, from hospitalized children with acute diarrhea, was ex...

Definitions Chronic diarrhea is a common complaint in pediatric medicine and can pose a complex situation for practitioners and families. This complaint is both a symptom and a sign. (1) Although patients or their parents often assess the presence of diarrhea by reporting stool consistency and frequency, one can more scientifically define diarrhea as stool volume >10 g/kg per day in infants and...

Acute diarrhea is a leading cause of under-five mortality in developing countries like India. Most of the diarrheal episodes recover within 14 days. However in certain cases acute diarrhea may last for more than 14 days in which it is termed as persistent diarrhea if presumed to be of infectious origin. Various malabsorptive syndromes due to carbohydrate, fat and protein malabsorption can resul...

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of demographic, socioeconomic, environmental, maternal reproductive, dietary, and nutritional variables on diarrhea risk and prognosis using a hierarchical framework. A case-control study of children aged 0-23 months in Greater Metropolitan Porto Alegre was conducted during the peak season for diarrhea in 19871988. Three groups were investigated, ...