Prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni in diarrheic children in Semnan (Iran)

Abstract

Introduction: Diarrhea is one of pediatric infectious diseases, which is the most frequent cases ofchild mortality. Diarrhea is a health problem in Iran; nearly 70 thousand children were died fromdiarrhea. Several bacterial agents can cause diarrhea, one of them is Campylobacter jejuni, which isless considered. The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of Campylobacter jejuni inSemnan diarrheic children.Materials and Methods: Stool samples were collected from diarrheic children who refer toAmiralmomenin hospital, Shafa hospital and hygiene centers of Semnan and these children did notreceive any antibiotic treatment at the beginning of the study. A swab was inoculated in Stuartmedium and transferred to clinical laboratory of Semnan hygiene center. The swab was inoculated onPreston blood free campylobacter agar and incubated at 42oC for 48 hours. In order to bacterialidentification, gram stain, catalase, oxidase, lack of H2S production in TSI, susceptibility to Nalidixicacid, resistance to Cephalotin and Hyporate hydrolysis were used. Antibiotic susceptibility test wasperformed by Kirby-Bauer method.Results: From 276 stool specimens (38.5% females and 61.5% males), Campylobacter jejuni wasisolated from 27 cases (9.8%; 44.4% females and 55.6% males). The most susceptibility was seen forErytromycin (92.6%), and the most resistance was observed for Cotrimoxazole (44.4%).Conclusion: In this study, the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni was more than other studies.Therefore, notification to Campylobacter jejuni in patient treatment and bacterial transmissionprevention is necessary in this area.

Keywords

• Campylobacter jejuni
• Diarrhea
• Antibiotic susceptibility
• Children
• Iran.