Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Diarrhea is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in under-five children in
developing countries including Ethiopia. Therefore, up-to-date data on etiologic agent and susceptibility
pattern are important for the management of bacterial diarrhea in under-five children, which was the main
objective of this study.
METHOD: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Hawassa Adare Hospital and Millennium Health Center
from June 6 to October 28, 2011. A total of 158 under-five children with diarrhea were selected using
convenient sampling technique. Demographic and clinical data were collected using questionnaire. Fecal
samples were collected and processed for bacterial isolation, and antimicrobial susceptibility testing following
standard bacteriological techniques.
RESULT: A total of 158 fecal samples were collected from 81(51.3%) males and 77(48.7%) females of underfive children with diarrhea. Of the 158 fecal samples, 35(22.2%) bacterial pathogens were isolated. The
isolated bacteria were Campylobacter species, 20 (12.7%), Shigella species, 11 (7.0%), and Salmonella species,
4 (2.5%). The majority of the isolates were sensitive to Chloramphenicol, Ciprofloxacin, Nalidixic acid and
Cotrimoxazol and high rate of drug resistance was observed against Erythromycin and Amoxicillin.
CONCLUSIONS: The finding of this study indicates that Campylobacter species were the predominant
etiologies and the presence of bacterial isolates resistant to the commonly prescribed drugs for treating
diarrhea in children. Therefore, periodic monitoring of etiologic agent with their drug resistant pattern is
essential in the management of diarrhea in children
