We conducted clinic-based, influenza-like illness and diarrheal disease surveillance among U.S. service members participating in Operation Bright Star 2009. Epidemiologic data and samples were collected. Nasopharyngeal swab specimens were tested for viruses, and feces was tested for microbiologic, immunologic, and molecular diagnostics. A survey was used to collect self-reported data. From 1,52...

INTRODUCTION Only 79% of individuals living in rural Honduras use improved water sources. Inadequate drinking water quality is related to diarrheal illness, which in Honduras contributes to 18.6 episodes of diarrhea per child year in children under five years of age. The purpose of this study was to examine and compare access to drinking water and sanitation, as well as self-reported diarrheal ...

In this nested case-control study, we investigated the risk factors for methemoglobinemia (MHG) in 71 children in the Transylvania region of Romania. This study was unique in that the exposures for cases and controls were calculated as continuous values and were reported in milligrams per kilogram per day of nitrate/nitrite based on careful dietary reconstruction and environmental sampling. Thi...

The role of diffusely adherent Escherichia coli (DAEC) in diarrheal disease has been controversial. However, DAEC strains were recently implicated in diarrheal disease in developing countries. To clarify whether DAEC are prevalent among sporadic cases of diarrheal illness in Osaka City, Japan, E. coli strains isolated between July 1997 and March 2000 during diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC) investiga...

The prevalence of Clostridium difficile infections in HIV-positive patients with regard to the presence of its enterotoxin was investigated. Enzyme immunoassay (EIA, Meridian Diagnostic Inc) was used for the detection of C. difficile enterotoxin in stool specimens collected from 201 HIV-positive and 271 HIV-negative diarrheal patients. Culture was performed on cycloserine cefoxitin fructose aga...

BACKGROUND Little is known about the causes of death in children in India after age five years. The objective of this study is to provide the first ever direct national and sub-national estimates of infectious disease mortality in Indian children aged 5 to 14 years. METHODS A verbal autopsy based assessment of 3 855 deaths is children aged 5 to 14 years from a nationally representative survey...

BACKGROUND To analyse the trends in the prevalence of different pathogroups of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) among hospitalized acute diarrheal patients. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS From the active surveillance of diarrheal disease at the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Kolkata, 3826 stool specimens collected during 2008-2011 were screened for DEC and other enteric pathogens. PCR was ...