LAUSR

Abstract Background Diarrhoeal diseases are the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children younger than 5 years of age in Africa. Within the background of traditionally recognized pathogens, there are increasing reports of new agents as possible agents of diarrhoea. We sought to investigate the role of emerging pathogens in the aetiology of childhood diarrhoea in Ile-Ife, southwestern Nigeria. Methods Fresh stool samples from 167 children with diarrhea (cases) and 334 healthy children (controls) were cultured for isolation of atypical non-lactose fermenting Gram-negative bacilli. Isolates were identified by conventional biochemical tests and confirmed with Microbact™ 24E identification kit. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using Kirby-Bauer disc diffusion technique following the guidelines set by Clinical Laboratory Standards Institute. Virulence determinant genes for diarrheagenic Escherichia coli were determined by polymerase chain reaction-based protocols. Results The results showed that organisms including Providencia spp., Acinetobacter baumannii, Yersinia aldovae and Salmonella subsp 2 were significantly isolated in diarrhea cases than controls (p ˂ 0.001; p = 0.004; p ˂ 0.001 and p = 0.020 respectively) with prevalence of 14.4% in cases compared to 13.2% from controls. The results of this research study show that non-lactose fermenting Gram-negative bacilli infections are highly multidrug resistant, and have serious implications in patients’ clinical outcome. Low educational background of caregivers (p=0.006) and duration of breastfeeding Conclusion The study concluded that specific species of non-lactose fermenting Gram-negative bacilli occurred as agents of acute childhood diarrhea and constituted high resistance burden which may impact negatively on treatment of cases of diarrhea.