Prevalence and etiology of nosocomial diarrhoea in children < 5 years in Tikrit teaching hospital

• Published in: Eastern Mediterranean health journal Vol. 15; no. 5; pp. 1111 - 1118
• Main Authors: Alrifai, S B, Alsaadi, A, Mahmood, Y A, Ali, A A, Al-Kaisi, L A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Egypt 01.09.2009
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Causality; Child, Preschool; Clostridium difficile; Clostridium Infections - complications; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - etiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diarrhea - epidemiology; Diarrhea - microbiology; Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli Infections - complications; Female; Hospitals, Teaching; Humans; Infant; Infection Control; Iraq - epidemiology; Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data; Male; Prevalence; Rotavirus Infections - complications; Sex Distribution; Iraq
• ISSN: 1020-3397; 1687-1634
• DOI: 10.26719/2009.15.5.1111

A cross-sectional hospital-based study was carried out at Tikrit teaching hospital, Iraq, from October 2004 to September 2005, to identify the prevalence and etiology of nosocomial infectious diarrhoea among children under 5 years of age. Of 259 children admitted to the paediatric ward for reasons other than diarrhoea and hospitalized for more than 3 days, clinical and laboratory analysis of stool samples showed nosocomial diarrhoea in 84 children (32.4%). The most common causative agents were enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (25.9%), Clostridium difficile (21.0%) and rotavirus (18.5%). Single infectious agents caused 63.1% of the cases, while mixed infections were detected in 16.7%; in 20.2% of children the cause remained unknown.