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The study presented here aimed to elucidate the diagnostic value of bacterial stool cultures and viral antigen tests when performed based on the clinical characteristics of acute gastroenteritis in infants and young children. A total of 21 (11.2%) bacterial and 74 (39.6%) viral infections affecting 187 children under the age of 3 years was investigated. Blood (p<0.001) and mucus (p=0.014) in the stool and a C-reactive protein (CRP) level of >or=50 mg/l (p=0.006) were more significantly associated with gastroenteritis of bacterial rather than viral origin. Vomiting (p<0.001) was significantly associated with viral gastroenteritis. Among children with bloody stool, culture grew a Salmonella spp. in 35% and for vomiting children, stool antigen tests detected rotavirus in 60% of cases. In conclusion, etiologic tests to determine the cause of childhood gastroenteritis according to their characteristic clinical features or laboratory test results, or both, are of low diagnostic value.

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