Abstract:

Acute gastroenteritis is one of the most common and fatal disease of childhood. Epidemiologic knowledge about etiology of gastroenteritis in a certain area allows early and correct diagnosis and also leads the pediatrician to proper choice and judicious use of antibiotics when the use of antibiotics are needed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological pattern and clinical fi ndings of 509 cases with diarrheal diseases admitted to our hospital; a referral hospital in Ankara; between January 2008 and January 2009. Stool specimens were investigated for bacterial, viral and parasitic enteropathogens using microscopic examination, immunological tests and bacterial culture techniques. These cases included up to 9.3% of all hospitalizations during one year period. Etiological agents were found in 57.7% of the patients, while agents could not be shown in 42.3% of the patients. Males were the prominent gender for all cases with diarrhea. The frequency of rotavirus was high among the children less than 2 years, while amebiasis was high among the children more than 5 years old. The cases of rotavirus were mostly seen in April (16.8%) and spring season (43.7%). Amebiasis were mostly seen in September (14.5%) and summer (32.9%). The duration of hospitalization for viral gastroenteritis was found to be longer (mean duration was 4 days for rotavirus, 5.7 days for adenovirus, and 4.5 days for rotavirus+adenovirus) than the duration for amebic gastroenteritis (mean duration was 3 days)

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