Campylobacter enteritis in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

SUMMARYA 12-month survey on the incidence of campylobacter infection in 1217 patients with diarrhoea was carried out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Campylobacters were isolated from 55 (45%) patients, second in prevalence to salmonellas (62 %).Shigellas were isolated from 4-2 % of patients. Campylobacter isolation rates were high in children of all ages, as well as in young adults (36-5 % of all isolates were from adults aged 20-39 years). Isolation rates peaked in September and November. Analysis of the results showed that 69% were Campylobacter jejuni (mostly biotype IV) and 31 % C. coli. Serogroups 5 and 23 (Penner scheme) and phage type 125 (Preston scheme) were most frequently isolated. Resistance to erythromycin and tetracycline was observed in 7-3 and 32'7 % of the isolates. Campylobacters are an important cause of bacterial enteritis in Saudi Arabia, both in adults and in children, and should be sought routinely.

Direct polymerase chain reaction detection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in raw milk and dairy products

“…Campylobacter enteritis has been recognized as a public health concern for more than 10 years (2,19). Mainly Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli have been found in stool samples of children and adults in developing and developed countries, being about as responsible for bacterial diarrhea as Salmonella, Shigella, and Yersinia species (3,4,21). Moreover, recent data confirm the suggested involvement of C. jejuni and C. coli serotypes in Guillain-Barre syndrome (8,10).…”

Occurrence of <i>Campylobacter jejuni </i>in Shiraz, Southwest Iran

“…Though it is to be noted that a majority of all diarrheal patients in the current study were between 11 and 20 years old, other studies have shown that symptomatic infection mainly affects children younger than 5 years, particularly in developing countries such as Bangladesh, Thailand, Egypt and Nigeria [9] , other researches have shown that Campylobacter enteritis can occur in adults as well as children [9] . A study in Saudi Arabia has shown Campylobacter enteritis to be an important cause of bacterial enteritis both in adults as well as in children [10] .…”

Campylobacter enteritis in the Arabian Gulf

“…In all reports from the region, Campylobacter ranked among the top three aetiological agents of bacterial enteritis. In Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Campylobacter infection was found to be second in prevalence to Salmonella with 69% of these infections being due to C. jejuni and 31% due to C. coli [19]. However, in data from Kuwait, Campylobacter ranked third after Salmonella and enterotoxigenic E. coli [21].…”

“…A diversity in the occurrence of Campylobacter as an aetiological agent of bacterial enteritis is evident in reports from Saudi Arabia. Three studies reported in the 1990s have reported Campylobacter detection in patients with bacterial enteritis ranging from 2% [18], 4.5% [19] and 28% [13]. In Kuwait the reported data of Campylobacter enteritis was 2.2% in 1981and 7% in 1989 [15].…”

“…In addition, four cases of diarrhoea due to Campylobacter lari occurring in children under the age of three years has been reported from the region [27]. But it is also of interest that Campylobacter enteritis appears to also be an important cause of gastroenteritis in adults in this region, and in one study 36.5% of isolates were from adults aged 20 to 39 years [14,19].…”