| Summary: | Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health
Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand,
Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements
for the degree of Master of Science
Johannesburg, 2012 === Introduction: Diarrhoea is a major cause of mortality and morbidity amongst children under five
years of age worldwide.
Aim: To characterise the bacterial aetiologies and molecular characterises the pathogens
associated with hospitalization for diarrhoeal disease among South African children aged less
than 5 years
Methods: Children aged < 5 years hospitalized with diarrhoea were enrolled. Standard
microbiological methods (culture, biochemical tests, serotyping) and molecular methods (PCR)
were used, targeting bacterial pathogens such as diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC),
Salmonella species, Shigella species, Vibrio cholerae and Campylobacter species.
Results: A total of 1816 stool specimens were processed, of which 633 (35%) were positive for
enteric bacterial pathogens. Isolates in order of frequency included 562 DEC, 49 Shigella spp., 20
Salmonella spp., 2 Campylobacter spp. There were 48 (8%) enteric bacterial infections identified
with more than one pathogen. Co-infections of bacterial pathogens with other organisms
include 52 bacterial agents concurrent with Cryptosporidium co-infection, 128 with rotavirus coinfection
and 9 episodes which included Cryptosporidium and rotavirus co-infections.
Conclusion: The overall recovered bacterial pathogens from stool specimens was 35% with DEC
being the most commonly identified.
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