Epidemiological characteristics of pathogens of diarrhea in Minhang district of Shanghai, 2006-2008

Objective To investigate the distribution of diarrhea pathogens and its change trend in Minhang district of Shanghai.Methods Stool samples were taken from patients with acute diarrhea in surveillance hospitals in Minhang from 2006 to 2008 to detect Salmonella (SM), Shigella (SH), Vibrio cholera(VC), Vibrio parahaemolyticus (VP), Enteropathogenic E.coli (EPEC), Enterotoxigenic E.coli (ETEC), Enteroinvasive E.coli (EIEC) and Enterohemorrhagic E.coli (EHEC).Results A total of 1251 strains of pathogens were detected from 8104 stool samples (15.4%), the majority were VP, SH and SM strains.The predominant strain of SM was Salmonella enteritidis, the predominant strains of SH were Shigella flexneri and Shigella sonnei. The annual detection rate of diarrhea pathogens from 2006 to 2008 was 17.1% (439/2564), 16.7% (497/2961) and 11.1% (315/2849) respectively.The distribution of the pathogens showed obvious seasonality with higher detection rate in summer and autumn.The detection rate of VP and SM were higher among young adults, and the detection rate of SH was higher among the people less than 20 years old.Conclusion The predominant pathogens were VP, SM, SH among the patients with acute diarrhea from 2006 to 2008 in Minhang district, which primarily revealed the pathogenic spectrum and epidemiological characteristics of bacterial diarrhea.