Etiology of bacterial diarrhea in a major referral center in Saudi Arabia.

A total of 34, 856 stool specimens from 19, 437 patients with symptoms of gastroenteritis were analyzed for bacterial enteropathogens during the period of January 1, 1985, to December 31, 1989, at a major tertiary care referral hospital in Saudi Arabia. Bacterial pathogens were isolate from 1426 (7.3%) patients, with Salmonella being the most frequent (3.8%), followed by Campylobacter (2.0%), Shigella (1.1%), and Aeromonas hydrophila (0.34%). Salmonella serogroups B and C and Shigella B and D constituted the majority of isolates in these two groups. Major clinical symptoms associated with bacterial gastroenteritis included mild to moderate diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, tenesmus, vomiting, fever, and dehydration. Bloody diarrhea was more common in patients with shigellosis (32%) than in those infected with other bacteria. Stool specimens from 80% of the patients with Shigella gastroenteritis had leukocytes, compared with about 40% of the patients with Salmonella or Campylobacter.