Yersinia enterocolitica infection in children

The role of Yersinia enterocolitica as a human pathogen has been documented in publications from over 30 countries, and Y. enterocolitica has been recognized increasingly to cause gastrointestinal disease in children. In 1979, an Australian survey yielded only three isolates of Y. enterocolitica from 3298 faecal specimens obtained from adults. We screened all stool specimens received during a 22-month period for Yersinia by means of a recently developed selective agar medium. Y. enterocolitica was isolated from 32 of 4136 (0.7%) specimens. Most isolates were of serotype O:3, biotype 4. During the study, 154 Salmonella spp. (3.7%), 196 Campylobacter spp. (47%), seven Shigella spp. (0.2%) and 27 Aeromonas spp. (0.9% of 2779) were recovered. Children infected with Y. enterocolitica presented with acute diarrhoea associated with fever and pharyngitis; chronic or recurrent diarrhoea; or pain in the right iliac fossa associated with mesenteric adenitis. Gastrointestinal symptoms usually resolved spontaneously within two weeks. However, some children were treated successfully with cotrimoxazole.