| Abstract: | To determine the prevalence of infection with Campylobacter fetus subsp. jejuni in Bangladesh, culture surveys were conducted among three populations. In Dacca, Campylobacter was isolated from 5.2% of 97 individuals with clinical dysentery and from 12.3% of 204 patients with only diarrhea. This difference may have resulted from a greater representation of young children in the second group. Campylobacter was isolated from 17.7% of the 141 healthy village children aged 1 to 5.5 years and from 38.8% of the 1-year-old children. More infected children (48%) had a history of recent diarrheal illness than did a group of matched controls (20%; P = 0.016). These findings suggest that campylobacter infection is common for Bangladeshi children. However, this organism may not cause diarrheal illness in all instances in which it is isolated. |
