EVALUATING THE CLINICAL-ETIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF HOSPITAL- ACQUIRED DIARRHOEA IN PATIENTS UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN: A CLINICAL EXAMINATION
Keywords:
Bacterial infections, Children, Hospital-acquired diarrhea, Enteropathogenic, Escherichia coliAbstract
ABSTRACTBackground: Approximately 2-32% of children treated to hospitals get hospital-acquired diarrhoea (HAD), which raises hospital stays, costs, and death. Every HAD episode causes the youngsters to lose nutrients that are essential for their growth. Paediatric patients are more vulnerable in hospitals because of their contact with patients who have communicable diseases, medical personnel, and contaminated surfaces. Poor infection control raises the risk even further in low-income institutions.
Aim: The purpose of the current clinical investigation was to evaluate the incidence and cause of paediatric patients' hospital-acquired diarrhoea.
Methods: The 120 participants in this research were hospitalised for causes other than diarrhoea and ranged in age from 1 to 15 years. Their hospital stays lasted longer than three days. Stool samples were taken from each research participant and analysed to see whether any bacterial, viral, parasite, or fungal agents were present. The human rotavirus antigen was found using a latex agglutination test, while Clostridium difficile was found using an ELISA assay.
Results: Of the 108 patients who had diarrhoea that they had acquired in the hospital, the majority (19.16%; n = 23) had Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, followed by rotavirus (14.16%; n = 17), C. difficile (11.66%; n = 14), E. histolytica (10%; n = 12), and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (6.66%; n = 8). Shigella flexneri was detected in 5% (n=6) of the research patients, whereas the least amount of cases (n=3) of C. albicans, Giardia lambia, Cryptosporidium parvum, Proteus mirabilis, and Salmonella enteritidis were seen.
Conclusions: According to the current study, paediatric patients experience hospital-acquired diarrhoea at a high rate, and the infectious aetiology was more common in these individuals than the non-infectious aetiology. The most frequent cause was an infection with germs.
