An Extensive Community Outbreak of Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases in Children

Abstract

In large parts of the world, deaths from diarrhoeal diseases in general population outnumber those from any other single cause [1] and in all areas, they are a regular and prominent feature of deaths among infants and young children [2]. ‘Acute diarrhoeal disease has become the usual term to denote the general syndrome, for this is indeed a group of diseases that are not clearly distinguished one from another either clinically or etiologically’ [3]. The recognized specific infectious diarrhoeas within the diarrhoeal syndrome include shigellosis, salmonellosis, enteropathogenic E. coli infections and amoebiasis. However, these specific infectious diarrhoeas of bacterial origin account for not more than 20% of all cases of diarrhoea in the community [4]. The typical distribution of cases in endemic diarrhoea in general population is sporadic or in family groupings although there may be occasional wave of increased incidence or even true outbreak. Endemic diarrhoea involving young children of ages less than 5 years outweigh all others in numbers of cases and deaths [5]. Epidemic manifestation of acute diarrhoeal diseases in infants and children have been reported mainly affecting the closed communities like hospital and nurseries but rarely from the community at large [6].