The aetiology of diarrhoea in children at an urban hospital in Bangladesh.

Enteric pathogens were studied in 104 cases with acute diarrhoea and in 74 age and sex matched concurrent controls. One or more pathogens were isolated from 59.1% of cases compared with 20.4% of controls (P less than 0.001). Single enteropathogens were detected in 33.7% and multiple enteropathogens in 25.4% of the cases. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), Campylobacter jejuni, rotavirus, Vibrio cholerae non-O1 and enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli were the major pathogens detected. The high rate of isolation of EPEC from diarrhoea cases (23.1%) indicated a definite role for this pathogen in causing endemic diarrhoea in Bangladesh.