R otavirus is a very common cause of acute diarrhoea in infant and young children throughout both the developing and developed world, occurring more frequently during the winter [1]. Person-to-person transmission is principally via faecal-oral contamination and exposure. The debilitating nature of rotavirus is reflected in the fact that an estimated one-third of all nosocomial paediatric diarrh...

Laboratory, Colindale, London) The traveller newly arrived at his destination, particularly if a warm climate, is commonly affected by acute diarrhoea within 14 days, a condition usually referred to as 'traveller's diarrhoea'. In 1965 a bacteriological study was made on 540 men belonging to an Army unit which moved by air from the United Kingdom to Aden. Cases of diarrhoea commenced about four ...

To determine when children with acute diarrhoea should be investigated for urinary tract infection (UTI), we studied 120 patients and 120 healthy age- and sex-matched controls aged 4 weeks to 5 years. In those with positive or suspicious urine cultures, bacteriuria or pyuria, urine culture was repeated. We detected UTI in 8 patients (all < 2 years) and 1 boy in the control group. In those with ...

The effects of oral rehydration fluid alone and of oral rehydration fluid plus breast feeding on the course and outcome of acute diarrhoea were assessed in two groups of 26 children aged under 2 years. Children who continued to be breast fed during treatment with oral rehydration solutions passed significantly fewer diarrhoeal stools. They also passed, on average, a smaller volume of diarrhoeal...

We have studied 73 adults with acute diarrhoea and identified a micro-organism or toxin likely to be the cause in 58%. In addition to routinely cultured bacteria, Campylobacter coli/jejuni and Clostridium difficile were important pathogens in the community. Patients who developed diarrhoea after antibiotic use had a distinctive clinical syndrome and comprised the third largest group of cases. C...

BACKGROUND A series of complications caused by enteroviruses, including meningitis, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, acute cardiopulmonary failure, respiratory infection, and myocardial injury have been reported in hand, foot and mouth disease/herpangina (HFMD/HA). However, the complication of diarrhoea caused by enteroviruses has been neglected, and a summary of its clinical features and...

Background. Childhood diarrhoea is usually caused by viral or bacterial infection. Rotaviruses are the most com− mon cause of severe diarrhoea in children worldwide and infect virtually children younger than 5 years of age. According to the Polish data, the analysis of etiological factors of acute diarrhoeas in children, shows the predom− inance of rotavirus and Salmonella as causative organism...

A total of 383 children aged less than 5 years suffering from acute watery diarrhoea or dysentery were studied in hospital to determine the rate of persistent diarrhoea. Altogether 335 (87.5%) recovered within 13 days. Only in 48 (12.5%) did the diarrhoea continue for 14 days or more, and they were considered as having persistent diarrhoea. Children aged between 7 and 18 months had a significan...

The efficacy of racecadotril (RC), an intestinal antisecretory drug acting via an enkephalinase inhibition, was reviewed in paediatric acute diarrhoea but not yet in adults. Objective: To estimate the effectiveness of RC in the symptomatic treatment of acute diarrhoea in adults. Data Sources: A systematic review of MedLine, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register, DARE, and Embase (up to November 2...

OBJECTIVE To document the prevalence, clinical presentation and treatment outcome of cryptosporidiosis in immunocompetent adult patients presenting with acute diarrhoea. METHODS This prospective cohort study was conducted at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation Karachi from February 1, till September 30, 2012. All immunocompetent adult patients who presented with acute diarrhoea...