Viruses demonstrated in children in Tanzania: Studies in diarrhoea and measles

Causes of diarrhoea with particular reference to viral agents were investigated in 123 infants and young children in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Twenty-six of the patients also had measles. Viruses were found in 52 of the 123 patients (43 per cent) and rotavirus occurred in 38 children (31 per cent). Enteroviruses were found in 10 patients, adenoviruses in nine and ‘small round virus’ in one (six patients had dual infection). Four patients died and only one of these children had viral particles in the stools. Breast milk formed part or all of the diet in 77 children (63 per cent) and virus isolation showed a similar pattern in breast fed infants and those not receiving breast milk. In 26 patients with measles only five were excreting viruses in their stools. Therefore no strong evidence was found to link the diarrhoea associated with measles in Tanzanian children to any particular virus. The pattern of virus infection causing infantile diarrhoea was similar in Dar es Salaam to other parts of the world.