Enteropathogens associated with acute infantile diarrhoea in Cape Town

The results of a year-long controlled study on the causation of acute infectious diarrhoea in infants are reported. Campylobacter fetus subspecies jejuni, rotavirus and certain enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) types were identified as the most common enteropathogens. Shigella, Salmonella group B and Yersinia enterocolitica were significant but less common pathogens. Campylobacter, rotavirus, the significant EPEC types and Shigella infections were more frequent in the warm summer and autumn months. This only partially accounts for the marked summer peak of diarrhoea, since at this time the percentage of cases of undetermined causation is highest (61%). Over the year an identifiable cause of the diarrhoea was found in 49% of the patients studied. A specific EPEC type, 0126:K71(B16), appeared to vary in pathogenicity on a seasonal basis. Multiple enteropathogens occurred relatively frequently.