Aetiologic agents of diarrhoeal diseases in hospitalised children in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

The causes of diarrhoea were diagnosed in 250 children and 250 controls, a sample of 3,500 children who reported to the Rawalpindi General Hospital, Pakistan between May 1983 and April 1984. The pathogens identified in children with diarrhoea were enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) (43.2%), enterotoxigenic E. coli (14%), rotavirus (9.6%), Shigella spp (3.6%), Salmonella spp (3.2%) and Giardia lamblia (1.2%). Mixed infections were found in 2.4% of patients. The following pathogens were detected in controls: EPEC (14.0%), rotavirus (7.6%), G. lamblia (6.8%) and Entamoeba histolytica (3.2%). The serotypes of E. coli were determined.