Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
Pt 11
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-10-17
pubmed:abstractText
A large proportion of diarrhoeal illnesses in children in developing countries are ascribed to an unknown aetiology because the only available methods, such as microscopy and culture, have low sensitivity. This study was aimed at decreasing the diagnostic gap in diarrhoeal disease by the application of molecular techniques. Faecal samples from 158 children with and 99 children without diarrhoea in a hospital in South India were tested for enteric pathogens using conventional diagnostic methods (culture, microscopy and enzyme immunoassays) and molecular methods (six PCR-based assays). The additional use of molecular techniques increased identification to at least one aetiological agent in 76.5 % of diarrhoeal specimens, compared with 40.5 % using conventional methods. Rotavirus (43.3 %), enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (15.8 %), norovirus (15.8 %) and Cryptosporidium spp. (15.2 %) are currently the most common causes of diarrhoea in hospitalized children in Vellore, in contrast to a study conducted two decades earlier in the same hospital, where bacterial pathogens such as Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp. and enterotoxigenic E. coli were more prevalent. Molecular techniques significantly increased the detection rates of pathogens in children with diarrhoea, but a more intensive study, testing for a wider range of infectious agents and including more information on non-infectious causes of diarrhoea, is required to close the diagnostic gap in diarrhoeal disease.
pubmed:grant
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0022-2615
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
57
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1364-8
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Closing the diarrhoea diagnostic gap in Indian children by the application of molecular techniques.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences, Christian Medical College, Vellore, India.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural