The Microbiology of Childhood Gastroenteritis: Aeromonas Species and Other Infective Agents

Abstract

A prospective, 12-month study of 975 non-Aboriginal children with diarrhea and age- and sex-matched children without diarrhea, in Perth, Western Australia, was designed to investigate the significance of enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species as a cause of diarrhea. Enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species were found in the fecal specimens of 10.8% of the patients with diarrhea but in only 0.7% of those without diarrhea. Most Aeromonas species were isolated during the summer. Other important bacterial pathogens included Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli; rotavirus infections appeared to be much less important in the Western Australian environment. Most of the patients were younger than two years of age and about onequarter had mixed bacterial and/or viral intestinal infections. Enterotoxigenic Aeromonas species can be identified with 97% accuracy using a simple hemolysin assay which should be considered for use by routine diagnostic laboratories, particularly in children's hospitals.