High Detection Rates of Enteropathogens in Asymptomatic Children Attending Day Care

BACKGROUND: Gastroenteritis morbidity is high among children under the age of four, especially amongst those who attend day care. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of a range of enteropathogens in the intestinal flora of children attending day care and to relate their occurrence with characteristics of the sampled child and the sampling season. METHODS: We performed three years of enteropathogen surveillance in a network of 29 child day care centers in the Netherlands. The centers were instructed to take one fecal sample from ten randomly chosen children each month, regardless of gastrointestinal symptoms at time of sampling. All samples were analyzed for the molecular detection of 16 enteropathogenic bacteria, parasites and viruses by real-time multiplex PCR. RESULTS: Enteropathogens were detected in 78.0% of the 5197 fecal samples. Of the total, 95.4% of samples were obtained from children who had no gastroenteritis symptoms at time of sampling. Bacterial enteropathogens were detected most often (most prevalent EPEC, 19.9%), followed by parasitic enteropathogens (most prevalent: D. fragilis, 22.1%) and viral enteropathogens (most prevalent: norovirus, 9.5%). 4.6% of samples related to children that experienced symptoms of gastroenteritis at time of sampling. Only rotavirus and norovirus were significantly associated with gastroenteritis among day care attendees. CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that asymptomatic infections with enteropathogens in day care attendees are not a rare event and that gastroenteritis caused by infections with these enteropathogens is only one expression of their presence

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Colonization With Extended-Spectrum Cephalosporin-Resistant Escherichia coli in Children Attending Daycare Centers: A Cohort Study in the Netherlands

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for colonization with extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant (ESC-R) Escherichia coli in daycare center (DCC)-attending children. METHODS: This is a prospective cohort study including 44 DCCs in the Netherlands, combining DCC characteristics and monthly collected stool samples from their attendees, and was performed in 2010-2012. During a 22-month study period, 852 stool samples were collected and screened for ESC-R E coli. Risk factors were studied using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In DCC-attending children (<4 years old), the overall prevalence of ESC-R E coli was 4.5%, and it was 8% in <1-year-old attendees. Among the 38 children carrying ESC-R E coli, the most common types were blaCMY-2 (26%), blaCTX-M-1 (16%), and chromosomal AmpC type 3 promoter mutants (13%). Extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant E coli was less common in DCCs where stricter hygiene protocols were enforced, eg, not allowing ill children to enter the DCC (odds ratio [OR], 0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14-0.84), performing extra checks on handwashing of ill children (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.20-0.87), and reporting suspected outbreaks to local health authorities (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.11-0.69). CONCLUSIONS: The distribution of ESC-R E coli types in DCCs differs from that of the general population. Extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant E coli carriage in DCC-attending children is associated with the hygiene policies enforced in the DCC. Although our results are not conclusive enough to change current DCC practice beyond ensuring compliance with standing policies, they generated hypotheses and defined the degree of ESC resistance among DCC attendees, which may influence empiric antibiotic therapy choices, and tracked the increasing trend in ESC resistance

Gastroenteritis Attributable to 16 Enteropathogens in Children Attending Day Care Significant Effects of Rotavirus, Norovirus, Astrovirus, Cryptosporidium and Giardia

Background: Children attending day care experience substantial gastrointestinal morbidity due to circulating seasonal enteropathogens in the day-care environment. The lack of a distinct clinical presentation of gastroenteritis (GE) in these children, in combination with the high diversity of enteropathogenic agents, complicates the assessment of the individual contributions of enteropathogens that may cause GE. We aimed to estimate the proportion of day-care attendees experiencing GE that could be attributed to a range of enteropathogens circulating in day care in the Netherlands in 2010-2013. Methods: Using time-series data from a national laboratory-based and syndrome-based surveillance system in Dutch day-care centers and generalized estimating equation analysis, we modelled the variation in prevalence of 16 enteropathogens of bacterial (8), viral (5) and parasitic origin (3) circulating in day care to the variation of GE incidence among children attending day care. Results: Rotavirus, norovirus, astrovirus, Giardia and Cryptosporidium were significantly associated with GE morbidity among day-care attendees in our time-series analysis. Together, these enteropathogens accounted for 39% of the GE morbidity: 11% by rotavirus, 10% by norovirus, 8% by Giardia, 7% by astrovirus and 3% by Cryptosporidium. Conclusions: We demonstrate that circulating viruses and parasites, rather than bacteria, contribute to seasonal GE experienced by children in day care

Prevalence of enteropathogens in the feces of children attending day care from March 2010 through March 2013 in the Netherlands.

<p>*The total number of fecal samples positive for a specific enteropathogen divided by the total number of fecal samples analyzed.</p><p>**Prevalence estimates are based on a 0–2 year old child with no gastrointestinal symptoms sampled during the winter in the year 2011/2012 using pathogen-specific multilevel mixed-effects (MME) logistic regression models. These models were fitted with two random-effects, one at the level of the DCC and one at the level of the individual child, and were used to estimate the associations between the age, season, year and gastrointestinal symptoms at time of sampling and the presence of the enteropathogen under study. Using the fitted MME logistic regression models, we estimated the enteropathogen prevalence in the feces of an asymptomatic child aged of 0–2 years old during the winter season in 2011/2012.</p><p>***Significant odds ratios (ORs) are indicated in boldface.</p><p>****Given the small number of detections the crude, rather than the estimated, prevalence, is given.</p

5-weekly smoothed prevalence (%) of enteropathogens of bacterial (2A), parasitic (2B) and viral (2C) origin measured during the study period.

<p>5-weekly smoothed prevalence (%) of enteropathogens of bacterial (2A), parasitic (2B) and viral (2C) origin measured during the study period.</p

5-weekly smoothed prevalence (%) of enteropathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites per age group in months.

<p>5-weekly smoothed prevalence (%) of enteropathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites per age group in months.</p

Prevalence and Risk Factors for Colonization With Extended-Spectrum Cephalosporin-Resistant Escherichia coli in Children Attending Daycare Centers: A Cohort Study in the Netherlands

Background The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for colonization with extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant (ESC-R) Escherichia coli in daycare center (DCC)-attending children. Methods This is a prospective cohort study including 44 DCCs in the Netherlands, combining DCC characteristics and monthly collected stool samples from their attendees, and was performed in 2010–2012. During a 22-month study period, 852 stool samples were collected and screened for ESC-R E coli. Risk factors were studied using logistic regression analysis. Results In DCC-attending children (<4 years old), the overall prevalence of ESC-R E coli was 4.5%, and it was 8% in <1-year-old attendees. Among the 38 children carrying ESC-R E coli, the most common types were blaCMY-2 (26%), blaCTX-M-1 (16%), and chromosomal AmpC type 3 promoter mutants (13%). Extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant E coli was less common in DCCs where stricter hygiene protocols were enforced, eg, not allowing ill children to enter the DCC (odds ratio [OR], 0.34; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.14–0.84), performing extra checks on handwashing of ill children (OR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.20–0.87), and reporting suspected outbreaks to local health authorities (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.11–0.69). Conclusions The distribution of ESC-R E coli types in DCCs differs from that of the general population. Extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant E coli carriage in DCC-attending children is associated with the hygiene policies enforced in the DCC. Although our results are not conclusive enough to change current DCC practice beyond ensuring compliance with standing policies, they generated hypotheses and defined the degree of ESC resistance among DCC attendees, which may influence empiric antibiotic therapy choices, and tracked the increasing trend in ESC resistance