Incidence of Campylobacter infection in infants in western Algeria and the possible protective role of breast feeding.

A case-control study aimed at comparing the incidence of campylobacter infection with that of other enteropathogens in infants was performed in Oran, Western Algeria. During a one-year period, infants consulting in a health centre were included if they had acute diarrhoea. The controls comprised infants going to the same centre for vaccination. Butzler medium Virion was used to look for thermophilic campylobacters. Campylobacters were isolated in 17.7% of the 411 patients and in 14.9% of the 247 controls. No statistically significant difference was found after stratification by age. In contrast, other enteropathogenic bacteria were rarely present. Among the potential factors of clinical expression of infection, breast feeding appeared to have a protective effect which was higher for campylobacter diarrhoea than that observed for other causes of diarrhoea. These data contrast with those previously published in Bangladesh and could be an incentive for promoting breast feeding in this country, where the tradition is decreasing far below the standard which is generally accepted.