Campylobacter enteritis in The Gambia

Abstract

In a three-month survey in The Gambia, campylobacters were isolated from 14.3% of 287 patients suffering from diarrhoea and from 4.2% of 383 patients and controls without diarrhoea. The equivalent figures for shigellas were 6.3% and 2.1%, and for salmonella 7.0% and 2.6% respectively. 53 (93%) of the 57 campylobacters were isolated from children less than five years old; none were isolated from indigenous adults (greater than 15 years old). By using two selective media in parallel (Butzler's medium and Skirrow's medium), it was found that the number of isolations was increased by one third over that obtained with either medium alone. It is concluded that in The Gambia the transmission of campylobacters is of high intensity, with most infections occurring in young children, in whom these organisms are an important cause of morbidity and mortality.