Microbial contamination of the gut: another feature of malnutrition

Abstract

The microbial flora of the stomach and upper small intestine was studied in 21 malnourished Indonesian children with diarrhea and compared with that found in 21 Australian children of Caucasian extraction with a variety of alimentary disorders. In the Indonesian children, there was marked microbial contamination of the upper gastrointestinal tract with a wide variety of microorganisms. In several patients there was significant overgrowth by Candida sp., and in several others large numbers of anaerobic bacteria were isolated. It is suggested that these microbiological abnormalities are related to the pathogenesis of diarrhea in children with malnutriton.