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Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 11(3), 1962, pp. 395-400
Copyright © 1962 by The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

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Studies of Diarrheal Disease in Central America

III. Specific Etiology of Endemic Diarrhea and Dysentery in Guatemalan Children*

Virginia Pierce, Werner Ascoli, Romeo de Leon AND John E. Gordon
Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) Guatemala, C. A.

Bacteriological examination of 201 Guatemalan children with acute endemic diarrheal disease showed an association with Shigella in 13% of cases. The carrier rate for that infectious agent in 225 control children of the same ages, 1 through 5 years, was 6%. Examination was by single rectal swabs.

Neither Salmonella nor enteropathogenic E. coli was frequent in the age group examined. Except for hookworms in patients from rural areas, helminths and protozoa were present in equal proportions in persons with and without diarrhea. Guatemalan children showed a high rate of intestinal parasitism, since by 3 years of age practically every village child was infected with at least one species.

The critical question still unanswered is what proportion of acute diarrheas in childhood is of infectious origin. The problem has two parts, the specific infections of the intestinal tract and the many other infectious diseases which on occasion lead to diarrhea. The place of the viruses as inciting agents in both groups needs attention.


* This work was supported by Grant RG-6112 from the National Institutes of Health, U.S.A.

Many members of the professional and technical staff of INCAP participated in the general field studies of which this investigation was a part. Special acknowledgement is made to Drs. Nevin S. Scrimshaw, Miguel A. Guzman, Hans A. Bruch, Mrs. True Johnson and Mrs. Martha de Leon.

INCAP Publication I-213.






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Copyright © 1962 by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.