Clinical features and distribution of pathogenic microorganisms of diarrhea in 186 infants

Objective To analyze the clinical features and distribution of pathogenic microorganisms of diarrhea in 186 infants. Methods The clinical data and fecal specimens from 186 children with diarrhea admitted to Puyang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine from December 2015 to December 2018 were collected. The clinical features and distribution of pathogenic microorganisms of children with diarrhea were statistically analyzed. Results The children aged≤3 years accounted for 80.11% among the 186 children with diarrhea. All children had abnormal stool properties, of which 74.73% had loose or liquid stools, 11.83% had thin paste stools and 13.44% had mucous bloody stools. A total of 60.75% children were complicated by fever, and 73.12% cases were complicated by vomiting. Moreover, 52.67% of children with diarrhea were complicated with mild dehydration, 12.37% of enrolled children with moderate dehydration and 5.91% of enrolled children with severe dehydration. And 17.74% of children had leukocyte abnormalities, and 6.45% of children had erythrocyte abnormality. Among all children with diarrhea, bacterial culture of stool samples detected 30 positive cases, with the positive rate of 16.13%; and the detection rate of diarrheogenic Escherichia coli was the highest (58.06%, 18/31). Ninety-nine cases were positive for virus detection, with the positive rate of 53.23%, of which the detection rate of rotavirus was the highest (91.92%, 91/99). The positive detection rate of virus was significantly higher than that of bacteria (P 0.05). Conclusions Diarrhea in infants is mainly characterized by changes of stool properties and clinical symptoms, such as diarrhea complicated with dehydration, fever and vomiting. And it is mainly caused by viral infection, and Rotavirus is the main pathogen causing diarrhea in infants. Key words: Infants; Diarrhea; Clinical features; Pathogenic microorganisms