ABSTRACT
Four hundred children with diarrhoea whose ages rangedfrom 3 months to 6 years were investigated to determine the aetiology of childhood gastroenteritis in Barbados. Rotavirus (11%) was the most frequently identified pathogen, followed by Shigella (7%). enteropathogenic E. coli (4%), Salmonella (3%) and C. jejuni (1.3%) with 2% of patients having multiple pathogens. No pathogens were identified in the remaining cases studied. The ages of the patients with C. jejuni enteritis ranged between 4 months and 2 years (mean 1.3 years). tje male/female ratio was 2:1. The most frequent synptoms were fever (66%) and blood diarrhoea (66%). The duration of stool excretion ranged between 1 and 7 weeks. The organisms were unifromly sensitive to antibiotic tests aginst erythromycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, gentamicin an nitrofuratoin. In contrast, the ages of patients with rotavirus enteritis ranged between 3 months and 4 years (mean 1.3 years) with a male/female ratio of 1:1, and the most frequent symptoms were diarrhoea (80%), vomiting (70%) and upper respiratory infections. In 60% of patients, hospitalisation was necessary. All patients had an uneventful recovery