Author(s): Kadhum, H Al-Arajy, Khalid, K Al-Bayatti and Seba Hussain Al-Nuaemy
Article publication date: 2012-06-01
Vol. 30 No. 2/3 (yearly), pp. 95-100.
242
Keywords
Diarrhea, tap water, Enteropathogens, Al-Shula region,Gastroenteritis.
Abstract
Stool samples from forty children patients with diarrhea and other forty samples from children without diarrhea (control) (aged 1 month - 2 years) of both sexes were collected during the summer season of 2010. Tap water samples were also collected from houses of Al-Shula region of Baghdad. These samples were screened for the enteropathogenic bacteria. The percentage of bacterial isolates from children with diarrhea was 45% for E. coli, 21% for Klebsiella pneumoniae, 15% for Citrobacter freundii and 11% for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and with less frequency Pseudomonas fluorescens, Serratia plymuthica and Serratia ficaria, were also found. Whereas, Klebsiella terrigena and Enterobacter aerugena were more frequently isolated from control children than from diarrheic children. A similar prevalence of isolates was obtained from tap water samples. These results clearly indicate that contamination and/or poor purification procedures of water supplied to the general public might probably be one of the main causes for diarrhea in Baghdad city. Moreover, bacterial counts form tap water were highest during mid-summer indicating a need for better control of water quality during that time.