الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Campylobacteria has long been known to cause diarrheal disease in animals, but are also one of the most common causes of diarrhea in humans. The delay in recognizing the importance of these organisms was due to their cultural requirements which differ from those of Enterobacteria. The interest with these organisms has continued to the present and will doubtless continue into the foreseeable future. Today with improved media and isolation procedures the clinical laboratories isolate thermophilic Campylobacteria routinely in every investigation of a diarrheal illness. This work aimed for the isolation of Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli among cases of diarrhea, the percentage of these organisms in relation to Salmonella and Shigella species and the age group with the highest infection with Campylobacteria. The material of our study included 90 infants, children and adults up to the age 18 years. They were randomly chosen from the out-patient clinics of Pediatric and Internal Medicine Department El-Sahel Teaching Hospital and Abbasia Fever Hospital from both sexes and various age groups. Sixty were suffering from diarrhea and the remaining thirty were not suffering from diarrhea and were acting as a control group. Stool specimens were collected and were immediately cultured both microaerophilic for the isolation of Campylobacter organisms and aerobically for the isolation of Salmonella and Shigella species on a variety of enrichment, differential and selective media. Campylobacter jejuni I coli were isolated from stools of 15% of cases and 3.3% of healthy controls with no significant statistically (p > 0.05). Salmonella were isolated from stools of 6.7% of cases and no organisms could be isolated from healthy controls, no Shigella cases were detected in our study. This indicate that Campylobacteria were the most common bacterial enteric pathogen isolated from diarrheal cases. In this study, the age group < 2 years had the highest incidence of infection with Campylobacteria, then the age group 2 - < 12, 12-18 respectively. Our study, in addition to other studies reported from different parts of the world on the isolation of Campylobacter, suggests that Campylobacters (C. jejuni and C. coli) are an important addition to the growing list of known enteric pathogens as causative agents of infective diarrhea. The development of a selective culture medium has now made the isolation of Campylobacters from faeces a simple matter requiring only a gas pak jar, gas generating envelope and an incubator set about 42°C. Animal contact and the source of water supply were implicated as possible causes of Campylobacter infection. We recommend that the importance of Campylobacter infection in cases of diarrhea be realized and that the appropriate media for detection of Campylobacter should be used especially in cases were diarrhea is prolonged and does not respond to conventional therapy. Clinical laboratories, particularly in pediatric hospitals, should be aware of this important enteric pathogen and should include special isolation techniques for Campylobacter in their routine diagnostic procedures. Because of the high incidence of Campylobacter disease worldwide, contributing to morbidity and high mortality specially in developing countries, there is a need for an effective vaccine to protect against infection by this group of organisms. |