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. 2013 Oct;89(4):641-646.
doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.13-0307.

Laboratory-confirmed cholera and rotavirus among patients with acute diarrhea in four hospitals in Haiti, 2012-2013

Maria W Steenland, Gerard A Joseph, Mentor Ali Ber Lucien, Nicole Freeman, Marisa Hast, Benjamin L Nygren, Eyal Leshem, Stanley Juin, Michele B Parsons, Deborah F Talkington, Eric D Mintz, John Vertefeuille, S Arunmozhi Balajee, Jacques Boncy, Mark A Katz

Laboratory-confirmed cholera and rotavirus among patients with acute diarrhea in four hospitals in Haiti, 2012-2013

Maria W Steenland et al. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013 Oct.

Abstract

An outbreak of cholera began in Haiti in October of 2010. To understand the progression of epidemic cholera in Haiti, in April of 2012, we initiated laboratory-enhanced surveillance for diarrheal disease in four Haitian hospitals in three departments. At each site, we sampled up to 10 hospitalized patients each week with acute watery diarrhea. We tested 1,616 specimens collected from April 2, 2012 to March 28, 2013; 1,030 (63.7%) specimens yielded Vibrio cholerae, 13 (0.8%) specimens yielded Shigella, 6 (0.4%) specimens yielded Salmonella, and 63 (3.9%) specimens tested positive for rotavirus. Additionally, 13.5% of children < 5 years old tested positive for rotavirus. Of 1,030 V. cholerae isolates, 1,020 (99.0%) isolates were serotype Ogawa, 9 (0.9%) isolates were serotype Inaba, and 1 isolate was non-toxigenic V. cholerae O139. During 1 year of surveillance, toxigenic cholera continued to be the main cause of acute diarrhea in hospitalized patients, and rotavirus was an important cause of diarrhea-related hospitalizations in children.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Proportion of samples from patients 5 years and older positive for V. cholerae by stool culture and rotavirus by month from April 2, 2012 to March 28, 2013.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proportion of samples from patients under 5 years positive for V. cholerae by stool culture and rotavirus by month from April 2, 2012 to March 28, 2013.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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