Comportamiento de la diarrea causada por virus y bacterias en regiones cercanas a la zona Ecuatorial

Introduction: The infectious acute diarrhea (IAD) constitutes an important health problem affecting a large number of children worldwide. The morbility index associated with the IAD in children under five years of age, involves between 2.6% and 3.3% episodes/child/year, with mortality index of 3.2 millions per year. Most of the epidemiological studies have been performed in countries belonging to temperate zones but little is known concerning the tropics, where this infection is endemic. Objectives: The aim of this study was to contribute to the knowledge of the IAD in Colombia comparing two geographic and climatically different regions, one located at the Caribbean coast (Cartagena) and another of the central highland (Facatativa). We analyzed the etiology of the two regions identifying the source of the infection. Material and methods: Diarrheic samples from children under five years of age who had medical assistance in local hospitals were collected during 14 months. Bacteria were isolated in selective media and typified with biochemical methods. The presence of viruses was detected with immunoassay commercial kits. Analyses of independent variables (age, gender, temperature, rainfall and humidity) were evaluated with bivariated and Z tests and correlated with the presence of the infection in both regions. Results: The predominance of viral diarrhea was higher in both regions (29.2% and 21.4%) compared with the bacterial source of infections (16% and 15 %) for Cartagena and Facatativá, respectively. Rotavirus was the most frequent pathogen with prevalences around 24.8% and 18%, respectively. Astrovirus and enteric adenovirus had prevalences below 3%. There were no significant statistic differences between the regions studied accounting for the infection or supporting that different climate conditions or child characteristics could be associated with diarrhea. However, the Z test showed that rotavirus and in general, all viral infections follow different patterns when analyzed comparatively in both regions.