Bacterial and viral causes of acute diarrhoea in children in Kuwait.

Bacterial and viral causes of acute diarrhoea were studied prospectively for one year in 343 hospitalised young children in Kuwait. In 288 (84%) patients, one or more pathogens were identified compared with 12 of 86 (13.9%) children admitted with diseases other than diarrhoea (p less than 0.01). Forty-four (12.9%) of the patients were infected with two or more pathogens. Viral agents detected in the stools were rotaviruses (40.2%), enteric adenoviruses (1.7%), and enteroviruses (1.5%). Enterobacteria were isolated from the stools of 44% of the patients as follows: Salmonella (18.0%), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) (17.5%), enterotoxigenic E. coli (6.7%), Shigella (5.0%), Campylobacter jejuni (2.3%), Vibrio cholerae non-01 (2.3%), Yersinia enterocolitica (1.5%), and Aeromonas hydrophila (0.9%). The incidence of diarrhoea in children showed two seasonal peaks: during March-May and October-November. The present study indicates that Salmonella and EPEC are the major causes of bacterial gastroenteritis, while rotaviruses are the main cause of viral gastroenteritis in young children in Kuwait.