Frequency and characteristics of selected enteropathogens in fecal and rectal specimens from childhood diarrhea in Trinidad, 1998-2000

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of selected enteric pathogens in diarrheic children in six counties of the island of Trinidad. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted from April 1998 through March 2000. Fecal or rectal swab specimens from children ( 0.05 with the chi-square test). For the 150 samples from the six counties that had been submitted directly to the Trinidad Public Health Laboratory, 14 of them (9.3%) were positive for Shigella, a figure statistically significantly lower than that found with the samples sampled directly from the health centers (P < 0.05 with the chi-square test). Sh. sonnei was the predominant serotype detected, accounting for 28 of the 33 Shigella isolates (84.8%) recovered from the 236 samples. Overall, the frequency of detection of enteropathogens had no seasonal pattern nor relationship to the county of origin. Of the 37 isolates of Salmonella and Shigella tested for antimicrobial sensitivity, all of them were sensitive to ciprofloxacin, gentamicin, and cefotaxime. In terms of resistance, 3 of the 37 isolates (8.1%) exhibited resistance to ampicillin, 1 (2.7%) to chloramphenicol, and 1 (2.7%) to sulfamethoxazole/ trimethoprim. CONCLUSION: Of the enteropathogens for which assays were done, Shigella sonnei was the most prevalent, and it has the highest probability of being an important etiological agent of childhood diarrhea in Trinidad.