In an attempt to find the extent to which Clostridium difficile could be implicated as the cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, the stools of 53 patients who had diarrhoea after a course of antibiotics were investigated for the presence of C. difficile toxin. Ten of the patients (19%) were found to be positive, but the stools of four out of 53 patients without diarrhoea after a course of a...

Steatorrhoea and diarrhoea follow all types of gastric surgery but their incidence is probably highest when vagotomy is performed. This investigation was undertaken in an attempt to answer the following questions: What is the incidence of diarrhoea and steatorrhoea after vagotomy accompanied by either pyloroplasty or gastrojejunostomy? Is there a significant difference in the incidence of steat...

To determine the prevalence of giardiasis in Gambian children with chronic diarrhoea and to assess their response to treatment, 31 children with chronic diarrhoea and malnutrition were investigated for giardiasis using a combination of serology (specific antigiardia IgM antibody) and microscopy of faeces and jejunal biopsy specimens. Fourteen of 31 children with chronic diarrhoea had giardiasis...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effect of a new point-of-use treatment for drinking-water, a commercially developed flocculant-disinfectant, on the prevalence of diarrhoea in children. METHODS We conducted a randomized controlled trial among 514 rural Guatemalan households, divided into 42 neighbourhood clusters, for 13 weeks, from 4 November 2002 through 31 January 2003. Clusters assigned to water ...

BACKGROUND About 2 million episodes of diarrhoea occur each year in India. Of the 6.6 million deaths among children aged 28 days to 5 year; deaths from diarrhoea are estimated to account for 1.87 million. An average Indian child less than 5 years of age can have 2-3 episodes of diarrhoea. Mother's literacy, family income, feeding practices, environmental conditions are important determinants of...

OBJECTIVE To determine the efficacy of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus for the prevention of any diarrhoea associated with antibiotic use and that caused by Clostridium difficile. DESIGN Randomised double blind placebo controlled study. PARTICIPANTS 135 hospital patients (mean age 74) taking antibiotics. Exclusions included diarrhoea on admission, bowel pathology that could resul...

Diarrhoea and pneumonia are the leading infectious causes of childhood morbidity and mortality. We comprehensively reviewed the epidemiology of childhood diarrhoea and pneumonia in 2010-11 to inform the planning of integrated control programmes for both illnesses. We estimated that, in 2010, there were 1·731 billion episodes of diarrhoea (36 million of which progressed to severe episodes) and 1...