Publication:

Microorganisms and viruses causing diarrhea in infants and primary school children and their relation with age and sex in Zakho city, Kurdistan Region, Iraq

Background Diarrheal diseases in children are a major public health concern in developing countries. Diarrheal infection spreads through contaminated food or drinking-water, or from person-to-person as a result of poor hygiene. This study was conducted to investigate the incidence of different microorganisms associated with diarrhea in infants and primary school children and their relation to sex and age in Zakho city, Kurdistan region, Iraq.

Methods During the period from September 2013 to May 2014, 600 diarrheic samples were collected from both sexes and different ages ( 4-8 years (65.38 and 64.07%), while parasites were among >6-10 years (64.67 and 60.11%). High viral prevalence were recorded among ages <2 to 6 years with the peak among <2 years (40.54%).

Conclusions From this study we conclude that about 57% of diarrheal cases were associated with bacteria, parasites, and viruses with E. coli, E. histolytica, G. lamblia and rotavirus as leading microorganisms. The mixed prevalence with two or more microorganisms was documented in 179 (37.36%) out of 479 positive samples and the rate of microbial prevalence was found to be gender and age dependent.