• Fredrick Masiga, Edgar Kigozi, Christine Florence Najjuka, Henry Kajumbula, and David Patrick Kateete.
• Makerere University Hospital, Kampala, Uganda.
• Afr Health Sci. 2022 Mar 1; 22 (1): 581-588.

BackgroundDiarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) is a leading cause of childhood diarrhoea. This study estimated the prevalence of DEC and DEC pathotypes among children with acute diarrhoea in Southern Uganda.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted on 267 children less than 5 years with acute diarrhoea, admitted to Rakai General Hospital in Southern Uganda. Faecal samples were collected from the children and processed for isolation of E. coli. The presence of DEC and the distribution of DEC pathotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction.ResultsA total of 102 (38.2%, 102/267) children had DEC of various pathotypes - enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) (14.2%); enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) (6.7%); enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) (6%); enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC) (7.5%); enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) (3%); and cell-detaching E. coli (CDEC) (0.75%). The difference in the overall prevalence of DEC was not significant regarding HIV but individually, EAEC and CDEC were associated with HIV-positive status while ETEC was associated with HIV-negative status.ConclusionsDEC is prevalent in children with acute diarrhoea in Southern Uganda and its identification in children should be considered among strategies for combatting childhood diarrhoea in Africa.© 2022 Masiga F et al.

13 keywords...

hide…