Diarreia causada por Escherichia Coli: revisão narrativa

Abstract

Introduction: Acute diarrheal diseases are a health problem among the child population, becoming one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in this population. Objective: Elaborate a synthesis of the scientific literature on diarrheal infections caused by Escherichia coli, in its microbiological, epidemiological and clinical aspects. Method: This is a narrative review of the literature, carried out through the survey of scientific articles published between 2012 and 2022, on electronic sites, such as: Latin American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (LILACS), Medical Literature Analysis and Retrievel System Online (MEDLINE), Virtual Health Library (BVS), Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciElo), Google Scholar and Journal Portal of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES). The selection of descriptors was performed using the structured and trilingual vocabulary Health Sciences Descriptors. Results: The search carried out in the databases, using the structured strategy, identified 1,078 articles. Of these, 1,017 studies were not related to the theme “childhood diarrhea due to Escherichia coli” in their titles. Thus, with the full reading of the 61 selected studies, the exclusion of 41 studies that met the exclusion criteria was allowed. In this review, 20 studies that met the proposed theme were included. Conclusion: Diarrhea is a frequent health problem in children under 5 years old, which can result in infant mortality. In the microbiological aspect, it was observed that one of the most common microorganisms is E. Coli. The clinical characteristics of the pathotypes of diarrheagenic E. coli are: watery diarrhea, which may have mucus or blood, leading to weight loss and impairing the healthy growth of affected children.

KEYWORDS: Bacteria. Diarrheal infections. Clinical manifestations.