[The infectious etiology of acute diarrheal diseases in the Republic of Cuba, 1991].

This study was carried out in 1991 to learn the behavior of enteropathogenic agents causing acute diarrheal diseases in Cuba. 30 children, admitted in hospitals or seen in outpatient services for acute diarrheal diseases, were selected in each province taking into account that they had not received antibiotic or chemotherapy treatments in the previous 72 hours. Feces samples were taken from all patients for virological, bacteriological, and parasitological studies, and results were sent to the Pedro Kourí Institute of Tropical Medicine. Data were processed in DBASE III. Higher positivity indices were attained in the winter months. The causative agents most frequently found were: rotavirus (8.2%); Entamoeba histolytica (6.1%); and Salmonella (4.2%). Escherichia coli, Campylobacter, Shigella and rotavirus showed higher indices in winter. Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei predominated. Salmonella serogroups D, B, and C, and enteropathogenic Escherichia coli 0119 and 026 subsets were the most frequently found.