New and old agents in diarrhea; a prospective study of an indigenous adult African population.

Abstract

In Nairobi, Kenya, 77 adults with acute diarrhoea were studied in an attempt to determine the major pathogens responsible. Amoebic dysentery was not seen although haemagglutination-inhibition tests for invasive Entamoeba histolytica were positive in 4 inpatients. One patient had a heavy parasitaemia with Plasmodium falciparum. It is concluded that recognizable aetiological agents are associated with most diarrhoeal illnesses but that these illnesses are not commonly due to amoebiasis.