Campylobacter jejuni in hospitalized children with diarrhoea in Chiang Mai, Thailand

In this hospital based study, Campylobacter jejuni, although endemic in Northern Thailand was not found in a significantly higher percentage of diarrhoea than in control children. It was isolated from the stools of 14 of 208 diarrhoea (6.7%) and 6 of 108 (5.5%) control patients. Ten of the 14 positive diarrhoea cases were mixed infections, other pathogens isolated simultaneously were enteropathogenic E. coli 4x, Shigella spp. 3x, Salmonella spp. 4x, rotavirus 3x, Plesiomonas shigelloides 1x and parasites 3x. Infection with Campylobacter jejuni occurred mainly in the 1-2 year age group and was not found in patients over 5. It was distributed over the year without seasonal peaks. In four of the 14 positive C. jejuni cases no other pathogens were found. One of these suffered 2nd degree malnutrition with measles and one was a chronic diarrhoea case with a history of antibiotic use and past Salmonella and Shigella infections. The remaining two cases had no underlying or associated illnesses. It was concluded that Campylobacter jejuni may be important as an associated pathogen in complicated diarrhoea infections but is rare as a sole causative agent.