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Role of Campylobacter jejunilcoli in Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Abstract
Background: Campylobacter jejuni/coli are well established causative agents of diarrhoea. In Nigeria, gastroenteritis due to C. jejuni was first reported in northern part of the country in 1981 and the South-Western part in Ile-Ife in 1983.
Objective: To re-examine the role of C. jejuni as an agent of diarrhoea after more than a decade at Ile-Ife, Nigeria and to determine the biological characteristics of local strains.
Design: A prospective case control study.
Setting: Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Subjects: Three hundred and three children with diarrhoea and 100 children with other medical conditions other than diarrhoea were randomly selected.
Main Outcome Measures: Isolation of C. jejuni/coli from stool samples collected from the patients and controls. Biological characteristics of the isolates.
Results: Fifty eight (19.1%) and 6% of the patients and controls, had the organism respectively. Campylobacter coli accounts for 53.3% of isolates. All the isolates were susceptible to erythromycin and there was no evidence of ß-lactomase production.
Conclusion: Campylobacter jejuni is an important diarrhoea agent in our environment and should be considered strongly in children with diarrhoea. Complete characterization of local, strains is necessary.
(East African Medical Journal: 2002 79(8): 423-426)
Objective: To re-examine the role of C. jejuni as an agent of diarrhoea after more than a decade at Ile-Ife, Nigeria and to determine the biological characteristics of local strains.
Design: A prospective case control study.
Setting: Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
Subjects: Three hundred and three children with diarrhoea and 100 children with other medical conditions other than diarrhoea were randomly selected.
Main Outcome Measures: Isolation of C. jejuni/coli from stool samples collected from the patients and controls. Biological characteristics of the isolates.
Results: Fifty eight (19.1%) and 6% of the patients and controls, had the organism respectively. Campylobacter coli accounts for 53.3% of isolates. All the isolates were susceptible to erythromycin and there was no evidence of ß-lactomase production.
Conclusion: Campylobacter jejuni is an important diarrhoea agent in our environment and should be considered strongly in children with diarrhoea. Complete characterization of local, strains is necessary.
(East African Medical Journal: 2002 79(8): 423-426)
