Ugboko HU, Nwinyi OC, Oranusi SU, Oyewale JO. Childhood diarrhoeal diseases in developing countries.
Heliyon 2020;
6:e03690. [PMID:
32322707 PMCID:
PMC7160433 DOI:
10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03690]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 15.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2019] [Revised: 12/03/2019] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Diarrhoeal diseases collectively constitute a serious public health challenge globally, especially as the leading cause of death in children (after respiratory diseases). Childhood diarrhoea affecting children under the age of five accounts for approximately 63% of the global burden. Accurate and timely detection of the aetiology of these diseases is very crucial; but conventional methods, apart from being laborious and time-consuming, often fail to identify difficult-to-culture pathogens. The aetiological agent of an average of up to 40% of cases of diarrhoea cannot be identified. This review gives an overview of the recent trends in the epidemiology and treatment of diarrhoea and aims at highlighting the potentials of metagenomics technique as a diagnostic method for enteric infections.
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