Acute diarrhoeal disease in Nigeria: detection of enteropathogens in a rural sub-Saharan population.

A retrospective study was carried out to obtain epidemiological data concerning the relative risk of Shigella, Salmonella, Campylobacter jejuni and Vibrio cholerae infection in several rural population groups. Faecal samples (rectal swab specimens) were cultured from 914 selected children with acute diarrhoeal disease and from a matched control group of 984 non-diarrhoeal children. Shigella were more frequently isolated than the other enteropathogens from both the diarrhoeal (12.7%) and control children (6.6%). S. flexneri was the predominant species; S. sonnei and V. cholerae were not detected. Salmonella was isolated from 19 diarrhoeal (2.1%) and 16 control children (1.6%). C. jejuni was obtained from 34 diarrhoeal (3.7%) and 6 control children (0.6%). Most Shigella isolates were obtained during the peak agricultural periods (March/April and August/September) and from diarrhoeal children 0-5 months and 3-5 years of age. The highest infection rates with Salmonella and C. jejuni were observed during February and August, in diarrhoeal children aged 0-5 months and 6-11 months of age respectively. Up to 6 months of age, infection rates with Shigella, Salmonella and C. jejuni were markedly higher in bottle-fed than in breast-fed infants.