Campylobacter upsaliensis gastroenteritis in childhood

Campylobacter upsaliensis can cause gastroenteritis and bacteremia. Data on its epidemiology and role in pediatric gastroenteritis are limited.

To describe the incidence and clinical features of enteric C. upsaliensis infection in children and to compare these with similar data for Campylobacter jejuni.

Medical records of all patients with enteric C. upsaliensis infection between 1992 and 1999 at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, were reviewed. A case-control study (age-matched 1:2) was performed to compare the severity of clinical disease and associated risk factors for infection with C. upsaliensis and C. jejuni.

Of 18,516 specimens 666 (3.6%) were positive for C. jejuni and 19 (0.1%) were positive for C. upsaliensis. Records were available for 18 patients with C. upsaliensis gastroenteritis (mean age, 1.6 years; median age, 1.3 years; range, 3 months to 7 years; 14 male). Eleven patients (61%) presented with acute and 7 (39%) with chronic or intermittent diarrhea. The case-control study showed that fever (P = 0.03), acute diarrhea (P = 0.05) and rectal bleeding (P = 0.0006) were significantly less common in C. upsaliensis than in C. jejuni infection.

C. upsaliensis is a rare cause of gastroenteritis in young children and, compared with C. jejuni infection, is associated with significantly lower rates of fever, acute diarrhea and rectal bleeding.