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. 2022 Jan;25(1):41-51.
doi: 10.5223/pghn.2022.25.1.41. Epub 2022 Jan 7.

Epidemiologic Changes in Over 10 Years of Community-Acquired Bacterial Enteritis in Children

Jae Jin Yang  1 , Kunsong Lee  1
Affiliations

Epidemiologic Changes in Over 10 Years of Community-Acquired Bacterial Enteritis in Children

Jae Jin Yang et al. Pediatr Gastroenterol Hepatol Nutr. 2022 Jan.

Abstract

Purpose: Community-acquired bacterial enteritis (CABE) is a common problem in developed countries. It is important to understand the epidemiologic changes in bacterial pathogens for prevention and treatment. Therefore, we studied the epidemiologic changes in CABE in Korean children.

Methods: A total of 197 hospitalized pediatric patients aged <19 years that presented with dysentery symptoms and showed positive polymerase chain reaction results for bacterial species in stool samples, were enrolled in this study for 10 years (June 2010 to June 2020). We classified patients in phase I (06, 2010-06, 2015) and phase II (07, 2015-06, 2020) and analyzed their epidemiologic and clinical characteristics.

Results: The most common pathogens were Campylobacter species (42.6%) and Salmonella species were the second most common pathogens (23.9%). The abundance of pathogens decreased in the following order: Clostridium difficile (9.6%), Shigella (5.6%), and Clostridium perfringens (5.6%). Escherichia coli O157:H7 was found to be the rarest pathogen (2.0%). Campylobacter species showed an increase in the infection rate from 32.1% in phase I to 49.6% in phase II (p=0.0011). Shigella species showed a decline in the infection rate in phase I from 14.1% to 0.0% in phase II (p<0.001). C. difficile and C. perfringens showed an increase in infection rate in phase II compared to phase I, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Conclusion: The infection rate of Campylobacter species in CABE has been rising more recently, reaching almost 50%. This study may help establish policies for prevention and treatment of CABE in Korean children.

Keywords: Campylobacter; Community acquired infection; Enteritis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Causative pathogens of community-acquired bacterial enteritis for 10 years (June, 2010–June, 2020).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Frequency of infection by month.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Difference in frequency of pathogens according to phase I (June, 2010–May, 2015) and phase II (July, 2015–June, 2020).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Causative sources of community-acquired bacterial enteritis.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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