Campylobacter as a cause of acute enteritis in children in South Australia. II. Clinical comparison with salmonella, rotavirus and non-specific enteritis.

The clinical features of 17 children with campylobacter enteritis were compared with 17 age- and sex-matched children with enteritis due to salmonella, rotavirus or those in whom there was no identifiable pathogen. Prominent clinical features of campylobacter enteritis included fever, diarrhoea, vomiting, blood in stools and periumbilical pain. Dehydration was uncommon, compared to rotavirus and non-specific enteritis. The acute illness was self-limited, in spite of prolonged asymptomatic faecal excretion of the organism. This prolonged carriage increases the risk of cross infection. No patient with campylobacter required antibiotic therapy. Recurrent epidoses of diarrhoea were seen in three children but on no occasion was campylobacter the cause. This study has demonstrated a marked similarity between campylobacter and salmonella enteritis, making clinical distinction virtually impossible. Bloody diarrhoea, a feature of bacterial infections, was absent in rotavirus and non-specific enteritis.