Clinical dysentery in hospitalized children

• Published in: Infection 2002-06, Vol.30 (3), p.132-135
• Main Authors: FINKELSTEIN, Y, MORAN, O, AVITZUR, Y, NUSSINOVITCH, M, HAREL, L, VOLOVITZ, B, AMIR, J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age Distribution; Anti-Bacterial Agents - therapeutic use; Bacterial diseases; Bacterial diseases of the digestive system and abdomen; Biological and medical sciences; Campylobacter jejuni - isolation & purification; Child, Hospitalized; Child, Preschool; Cohort Studies; Dysentery; Dysentery, Bacillary - drug therapy; Dysentery, Bacillary - epidemiology; Dysentery, Bacillary - microbiology; Feces - microbiology; Female; Human bacterial diseases; Humans; Incidence; Infant; Infectious diseases; Israel - epidemiology; Male; Medical sciences; Prognosis; Prospective Studies; Risk Factors; Salmonella - isolation & purification; Severity of Illness Index; Sex Distribution; Shigella - isolation & purification; Waterborne diseases
• ISSN: 0300-8126; 1439-0973
• DOI: 10.1007/s15010-002-2166-2

Clinical dysentery is a severe presentation of an enteric infection. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of a serious bacterial etiology in clinical dysentery in hospitalized children and determine if children at high risk can be identified on the basis of clinical or laboratory parameters. A prospective study design was used. The study population included 60 children admitted to our department with clinical dysentery over a 16-month period. Fresh stool specimens were collected on days 1, 2 and 3. The clinical and laboratory data of the children were analyzed. Clinical dysentery accounted for 1.7% of all pediatric hospitalizations during this period. Stool cultures were positive for Shigella spp. in 18 children (30%), and Salmonella spp. in 15 children (25%), Campylobacter jejuni was identified in one patient (2%). There were no significant differences in clinical characteristics or laboratory parameters between children with positive and negative stool cultures. 40% of the children hospitalized for clinical dysentery were eligible for antibiotic treatment. Early administration of empiric antibiotic treatment is justified in children hospitalized for clinical dysentery in Israel. Clinical or laboratory parameters were unable to differentiate those with clinical dysentery at risk of serous bacterial pathogens in stool.