Age characteristics and possibilities of laboratory diagnosis of infectious diarrhea in children in the tashkent city

Abstract

Objective: to study the age characteristics of pathogens of infectious diarrhea in children and evaluate the possibilities of laboratory diagnosis of intestinal infections in the Tashkent city. Material and methods. The study included 360 children aged 6 months to 18 years, hospitalized in Tashkent with a diagnosis of “Acute diarrhea”. Diagnosis of intestinal infection was carried out by bacteriological, immunochromatographic and PCR methods using RIDA®QUICK tests (R - BIOPHARM AG, Germany) and kits from Inter Lab Service “AmpliSens® OKI screen-FL”. Results. Analysis showed that the majority (56.7%) of children with diarrhea belonged to the age group of 3-7 and 7-14 years. In the etiological structure of diarrhea, the main share was occupied by viral and bacterial agents (30% and 45.8%, respectively). In 3.6% of cases parasitic diarrhea was observed and in 20.6% of patients the etiology of diarrhea remained unclear. A comparative evaluation of laboratory methods demonstrated the high efficiency of immunochromatographic and PCR methods compared with bacteriological examination in terms of early diagnosis of the etiological agent of diarrhea and the identification of viral pathogens. Conclusions. In children in the younger age group, diarrhea of viral etiology is more often observed, in contrast to older age groups, where bacterial ones are more common. Immunochromatographic and PCR methods enable earlier diagnosis of the causative agent of diarrhea and, consequently, the start of etiotropic treatment.