We found that rotavirus infection was common during colder months with a peak of 59% in early March
2017
Key concepts
Scholarcy highlights
- Five hundred million cases of acute diarrhea occur each year in children under 5 years of age throughout the world and it imposes a heavy burden on health services
- The study population consisted of all children below 5 years of age who came to the Diarrhoea Control Center, Dammam, with a history of acute diarrhea of not more than 72 hours' duration
- All were younger than 5 years old and all had acute diarrhea
- Most of the infants and children in our study were below 3 years of age, representing 83.7% of the total study group who presented with acute diarrhea along with mild to moderate dehydration
- Microscopical analysis of stool samples was highly useful in differentiating invasive from noninvasive forms of diarrhea
- Clinical features of the diarrhea in 70% of the children with Shigella infection consisted of abdominal pain and blood and mucus in the stools, and this showed significance at P < 0.001
- The invasive type of diarrhea was more common in older children
- Precise etiological diagnosis is not essential for the immediate care of the diarrhea patient, as oral rehydration is the primary treatment in all cases of diarrhea regardless of patient age and cause. Clinical presentation and stool examination of the diarrhea patients can be useful in starting the presumptive treatment
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