History and Objectives: Considering the concern for ways of application of WHO guidelines and the problems as a result of not executing these items and for determination of tendency of pediatricians for applying the suggested protocols for acute gastroenteritis, this study was carried out on pediatricians who participated in a yearly congress in 1999.

Materials and Methods: The descriptive and cross-sectional strategy of this study was randomly performed on 95 pediatricians who had graduated more than 10 years. In this regard, a 19-item questionnaire was prepared containing questions on personal characteristics, knowledge, information on gastroenteritis, use of ORS and feeding pattern for acute gastroenteritis and their answers were analyzed according to WHO guidelines.

Results: Out of 95 selected cases, 87 ones answered all of the questions and their age was 44±17 years and a working record of 17±6. In addition, 73% of them had enough information, but only 60% of them applied WHO guidelines. Meanwhile, 69% of them had enough information regarding use of ORS and 83% had an appropriate tendency for using ORS. Theoretically, 31% of these specialists and practically, 37% of them showed controversial views regarding the continuous use of foodstuffs during the period of acute diarrhea as recommended by WHO.

Conclusion: Application of WHO guidelines have not been executed for continuation of feeding during the acute phase of gastroenteritis. Therefore, it is recommended to explore the causative factors and to perform the necessary procedures for quality upgrading.

Background: With respect to the importance of microbial organisms as the cause of gastroenteritis, prompt diagnosis, proper treatment and follow up is of utmost importance. The present study was conducted on patients referring to Kashan Central Lab with the diagnosis of gastroenteritis to determine the frequency of protozoal and bacterial microorganisms.

Materials and methods : For this descriptive study, 500 consecutive cases of gastroenteritis were enrolled. Initial data were gathered and 3 separate stool samples (with 3-day interval) were obtained and examined by direct observation and ether-formalin method to detect possible microorganisms. Meanwhile, specific media and cultures were used.

Results : Of 500 cases, 50 were excluded due to weak cooperation. Of the remaining, the infection rate of protozoal, bacterial and other microorganisms were 50.9%, 13.5%, and 35.6%, respectively. Among protozoa, giardia was the most common (21.8%), however among bacteria, shigella was more frequently cultured (6.4%). Most of the infection did occur in summer among 7-11 year-old subjects.

Conclusion : Infection with shigella, giardia and salmonella is quite common. Necessary health care activities are strongly recommended.

Background: Gastroenteritis is one of the most common symptoms in AIDS patients. Although gastroenteritis in these patients is caused by several factors, the role of viral agents, especially rotavirus, is still unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of rotavirus infection among the HIV-positive cases.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 75 fecal samples were collected from HIV-positive patients with gastroenteritis referred to Imam Khomeini hospital. After viral RNA extraction, the sixth conserved segment of the virus genome (VP6) was amplified using RT-PCR method. Finally, the products were detected on 1.5% agarose gel electrophoresis and confirmed by sequencing.

Results: RT-PCR products with the expected size (433bp) were obtained for all rotavirus- positive as well as the wild-type standard viral isolates. Among the samples taken from 75 HIV-positive cases, 19 (25.3%) were rotavirus-positive and confirmed using direct sequencing.

Conclusion: Although in this study the anticipated prevalence of rotavirus among the HIV-positive cases is about 25%, further studies are required to characterize the genotype of rotavirus in HIV- positive cases with gastroenteritis.