Clinical Manifestations of Campylobacter concisus Infection in Children

BACKGROUND:: There is only sparse information about the clinical impact of Campylobacter concisus infections in children. METHODS:: A study was performed during a two-year period to determine the clinical manifestations in C. concisus positive children with gastroenteritis. A case patient was defined as a child or teenager (<18yr) with a C. concisus positive stool sample during the study period. Clinical data were obtained with use of a questionnaire study supplemented with the patients' medical records. The clinical manifestations in these patients were compared with those of patients with Campylobacter jejuni/coli infection. RESULTS:: Two thousand three hundred and seventy-two diarrheic stool samples from 1,867 children were cultured for pathogenic enteric bacteria during the study period, and 85 and 109 children with C. concisus and C. jejuni/coli, respectively, were identified. Comparison of the acute clinical manifestations in 44 C. concisus patients with those in 64 C. jejuni/coli patients showed a significantly lower prevalence of fever, chills, and blood in stools in the former. However, half of C. concisus patients compared with one-fourth of C. jejuni/coli patients had prolonged diarrhea for more than two weeks and two-thirds of all children with C. concisus reported loose stools after six month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS:: Campylobacter concisus infection in children seems to have a milder course of acute gastroenteritis compared with C. jejuni/coli infection, but is associated with more prolonged diarrhea. Children with C. concisus have the same degree of late gastrointestinal complaints as children diagnosed with C. jejuni/coli infection