EPIDEMIOLOGICAL AND SURVEILLANCE STUDY OF DIARRHEAGENIC E.coli AND Shigella spp IN AND AROUND TIRUCHIRAPPALLI DISTRICT, TAMIL NADU INDIA.

The present study is specially targeted to determine the prevalence of various bacterial enteropathogens causing acute childhood diarrhea and to find out their respective pattern of clinical features. Very few studies have been performed in India to investigate the prevalence and characterization of Diarrheagenic E.coli in patients with diarrhea. In the few cases of acute childhood diarrhea that require antimicrobial therapy, the correct choice of the drug depends on detailed previous knowledge of local strains. In order to establish such parameters in our city, we reviewed the results of all 185 positive stool cultures of children between 0 and 15 years of age during two years. Bacterial strains had been presumptively identified by culturing in selective media and by biochemical testing and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns were detected. Data about patients’ sex and age, monthly distribution of the cases, pathogens isolated and their antimicrobial resistance patterns were recorded. Males corresponded to 55.4% of our sample, and most of our patients (42.7%) were between one and four years of age. Shigella was the main causal agent of diarrhea in children younger than five years old. Shigella was the most frequent pathogen isolated from the stools of children between five and 15 years old. These data are useful for practitioners and they reinforce the need for continuous microbiological surveillance.