Etiological structure of acute intestinal infections based on the results of exterritorial monitoring

Introduction. Acute intestinal infections cause high morbidity and mortality, especially in Africa and Southeast Asia, where millions of children under the age of five die every year. The Republic of Guinea urgently requires large-scale research aimed at studying the causes of diarrheal diseases, necessary for the development of effective preventive measures to ensure the preservation of the health of its population. Aim. To conduct a analysis of the etiological structure of acute intestinal infections in the Republic of Guinea. Materials and methods. Stool samples (n = 724) from residents of the Republic of Guinea with diarrheal syndrome were studied by real-time PCR with two reagent kits: 1) AmpliSens OKI screen-FL for the detection of DNA (RNA) of microorganisms Shigella spp./EIEC, Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Adenovirus, Rotavirus, Norovirus and Astrovirus; 2) AmpliSens Escherichiosis-FL for the detection of DNA of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) of five pathogroups: EPEC, EHEC, ETEC, EIEC, EAgEC. Results. In the period 2019-2022, 66.2% of the examined children and adults revealed the presence of genetic markers of acute intestinal infections, mainly of bacterial etiology (74.1%), among which diarrheagenic E. coli dominated (62.4%). Genetic markers of viral pathogens were detected significantly less frequently by 25.9%, p 0.05. Young children are most vulnerable to infection caused by E. coli. Bacterial pathogens dominate both in cases of monoinfections and in cases of mixed infection with two or more types of pathogens. Conclusion. A study has shown that DEC is the main cause of intestinal infections in Guinea. The data obtained will become the basis for the development of an effective program for the prevention and treatment of acute intestinal infections in the republic.