Shiguelose em criancas internadas no Hospital Central de Maputo; MocambiqueJose A. Valdivia; Benedita Silva; Migdalia Hung; Elena Folgosa

ABSTRACT

From April to July 1993; Maputo City suffered an epidemic of dysentery. We analysed stool samples from 142 consecutive children hospitalized with acute bloody diarrhoea in the pediatric infectious diseases ward of Maputo Central Hospital. The samples were analysed for known pathogenic microbial organisms. 74 (52.1) were male and 68 (47.9) female; the mean age was 2.62 years. Shigella dysenteriae type-1 was isolated in 59 (41.5) cases. The probability of isolation of shigella dysenteriae was greater when the evolution time of the illness was equal to or less than five days and the number of daily stools was six or greater at the time of sample collection. For the diagnosis of shigellosis; the presence of macroscopic blood in liquid stools showed a sensitivity of 86.2; a specificity of 82.9; a positive predictive value of 78.1; and a negative predictive value of 89.5. All Shigella spisollated were sensitive to nalidixic acid; cephalothin; kanamycin and gentamicin and resistant to tetracycline; trimethoprim; chloramphenicol; ampicillin; sulfurisoxazole; cotrimoxazole and erythromycin. There was a statistical association (p0.05) between malaria due to plasmodium falciparum and the presence of macroscopic blood in the stools