TY - JOUR
T1 - Diarrhoea in elderly people
T2 - Aetiology, and clinical characteristics
AU - Faruque, Abu S.G.
AU - Malek, Mohammed A.
AU - Khan, Ashraful I.
AU - Huq, Sayeeda
AU - Salam, Mohammed A.
AU - Sack, David A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was conducted at the ICDDR, B: Centre for Health and Population Research with the support of United States Agency for International Development (Cooperative agreement number HRN-A-00-96-90005-00). ICDDR, B acknowledges with gratitude the commitment of USAID to the Centre’s research efforts.
PY - 2004
Y1 - 2004
N2 - We examined the characteristics of elderly people attending the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B. The hospital has a diarrhoeal disease surveillance system that enrols a 2% systematic sample of all patients visiting the hospital. We reviewed data of all patients enrolled into the surveillance system (n = 13,782) over the period 1996-2001 to identify patients aged 60 y and above for inclusion into the current study (4% of all surveillance patients; n = 478). V. cholerae O1 was the most common enteric pathogen isolated from faecal culture of the patients (20%), followed by ETEC (13%), Shigella (11%), V. cholerae O139 (10%), Campylobacter jejuni (5%), Salmonella (3%), EPEC (2%), rotavirus (4%), and E. histolytica (2%). The isolation rate of V. cholerae O139 and Shigella was higher among the elderly compared to adults (15-59 y of age, 10% vs 6%, and 11% vs 7% respectively; p < 0.05 for both comparisons). Compared to 15-59-y-olds, a significantly higher proportion of the elderly had visible blood in stools (8% vs 5%), required short-stay ward admission (86% vs 82%) or referral (1% vs < 1%) to a health facility. Early initiation of oral or i.v. rehydration therapy, prompt referral, and immediate clinical diagnosis for assessment of the need for antibiotic therapy might be beneficial for the elderly.
AB - We examined the characteristics of elderly people attending the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B. The hospital has a diarrhoeal disease surveillance system that enrols a 2% systematic sample of all patients visiting the hospital. We reviewed data of all patients enrolled into the surveillance system (n = 13,782) over the period 1996-2001 to identify patients aged 60 y and above for inclusion into the current study (4% of all surveillance patients; n = 478). V. cholerae O1 was the most common enteric pathogen isolated from faecal culture of the patients (20%), followed by ETEC (13%), Shigella (11%), V. cholerae O139 (10%), Campylobacter jejuni (5%), Salmonella (3%), EPEC (2%), rotavirus (4%), and E. histolytica (2%). The isolation rate of V. cholerae O139 and Shigella was higher among the elderly compared to adults (15-59 y of age, 10% vs 6%, and 11% vs 7% respectively; p < 0.05 for both comparisons). Compared to 15-59-y-olds, a significantly higher proportion of the elderly had visible blood in stools (8% vs 5%), required short-stay ward admission (86% vs 82%) or referral (1% vs < 1%) to a health facility. Early initiation of oral or i.v. rehydration therapy, prompt referral, and immediate clinical diagnosis for assessment of the need for antibiotic therapy might be beneficial for the elderly.
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U2 - 10.1080/00365540410019219
DO - 10.1080/00365540410019219
M3 - Review article
C2 - 15119366
AN - SCOPUS:2442541398
SN - 0036-5548
VL - 36
SP - 204
EP - 208
JO - Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
JF - Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases
IS - 3
ER -