Browsing by Author "Rolling Thierry"

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    Polymicrobial enteric infections in African infants with diarrhoeadresults from a longitudinal prospective caseecontrol study
    (ELSEVIER, 2021) Heinemann Melina; Strauchs Cornelia; Owusu-Dabo Ellis; Rolling Thierry; Klupp Eva-Maria.....et al
    Objectives: This longitudinal caseecontrol study aimed to determine the frequency of polymicrobial enteric detections in Ghanaian infants with and without diarrhoea. Methods: Infants aged 1e12 months with and without diarrhoea attending the outpatient department of a peri-urban Ghanaian hospital were prospectively assessed and stool samples were collected on days 0, 6 and 28 and analysed for 18 enteric pathogens with PCR. Results: At least one enteric pathogen was detected in 100 of 107 cases with diarrhoea (93%) and in 82 of 97 controls (85%). The number of pathogens was higher in cases than in controls (median three versus two pathogens, p 0.001). The adjusted attributable fraction (AF) for diarrhoea was highest for entero toxigenic Escherichia coli (7.2%, 95% CI e2.0% to 16.3%), rotavirus (4.1%, 95% CI 0.6%e7.5%), Giardia lamblia (2.3%, 95% CI e0.7 to 5.3%) and astrovirus (2.3%, 95% CI e2.9 to 7.5%). In cases, a higher pathogen number was significantly associated with watery stool consistency (median 3, interquartile range (IQR) 2e5 versus median 2.5, IQR 1e4, p 0.014), stool frequency five or more per day (median 4, IQR 3e5 versus median 3, IQR 2e4, p 0.048) and vomiting (median 4, IQR 3e5 versus median 3, IQR 2e4, p 0.025). During follow-up, 94% (78/83) of cases and 85% (67/79) of controls had acquired at least one new pathogen without developing a new episode of diarrhoea. Conclusion: Enteric pathogens could be identified in the stool of the vast majority of Ghanaian infants, whereby pathogens were very frequently acquired without resulting in new episodes of diarrhoea during follow-up. A higher number of co-occurring pathogens may increase the risk of diarrhoea and disease severity. Melina Heinemann, Clin Microbiol Infect 2021;27:1792