Acute bacterial diarrhea in Egyptian adults

ABSTRACT

This study was done on 83 patients with acute diarrhea and 20 controls, all were above 13 years of age. 70% of diarrheic patients were below 30 years of age, and most cases occurred during summer months [June-August], this seasonality is best evident in Shigellosis. The frequency of positive bacterial cultures was 17 cases [20%] in diarrheal patients compared with only one case [5%] in controls. However, there was a high rate of isolated parasitic pathogens in both groups. Shigella was the most frequent isolate [9 cases], 5 of them were Shigella dysenterae, 2 cases - Shigella flexeneri, one case Shigella boydii and another one Shigella sonnei. Diarrheogenic E. coli was detected in 6 patients [3 heat toxin [LT] and 3 heat stable toxin [ST]] and in 2 controls [2LT]. Campylobacter jeujeni, Salmonella species and Aeromonas hydrophilia were less frequently detected. The complaints of patients and the sensitivity to various antibiotics were also studied