Campylobacteriosis

General information and epidemiology

Campylobacteriosis is a typical zooanthroponotic infection. The main etiological agents causing the disease are bacteria of the species Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, and Campylobacter laridis.

In the overall structure of acute intestinal infections (AII), this pathology consistently accounts for about 6–8%. However, the infection is characterized by a pronounced spring-summer seasonality: in the summer months, incidence increases sharply, and the proportion of campylobacteriosis among all AII can reach 24%. Although the infection affects patients of various age groups, it is most frequently recorded in children aged one to three years.

Clinical presentation

The onset of the disease is always acute. The clinical picture consists of fever, general intoxication, and diarrhea. The severity of campylobacteriosis, similarly to escherichiosis, is primarily due to the development of dehydration syndrome — grade II–III exicosis.

Basic symptoms have a clear dependence on the patient's age:

• Temperature reaction: in infants under one year of age, body temperature чаще (usually) remains within normal limits, whereas in patients older than one year, persistent subfebrile fever is observed.
• Vomiting: in infants under one year of age, this symptom is recorded extremely rarely, while in the majority of older children, vomiting occurs at a frequency of 1–3 times per day.
• Abdominal syndrome: manifests as intense pain. The pain can be diffuse (generalized) in nature or localized predominantly in the periumbilical and right iliac regions. In character, the pain can be either constant or paroxysmal.

Age-specific features of the course

Clinical manifestations of the infection vary significantly depending on the age of the sick child.

In young children:

• The disease proceeds predominantly in the form of hemocolitis.
• Intoxication is moderately expressed, and the temperature reaction does not exceed subfebrile values.
• Abundant, frequent stools are characteristic (up to 7–10 times per day).
• Pathological impurities are regularly detected in the feces: mucus, greenish elements, and streaks of blood.
• Hepatomegaly is often detected in internal organs, while splenomegaly is recorded less frequently.

In older children:

• The infection more often proceeds as a food-borne toxic infection (FTI).
• Fever and recurrent vomiting are noted.
• Watery diarrhea develops, while pathological impurities in the stool (in particular, streaks of blood) are extremely rare.

Complications and extraintestinal manifestations

Campylobacteriosis is a serious disease due to the risk of developing severe conditions, which are usually divided into two main groups:

1. Surgical complications: development of ulcer-necrotic appendicitis and peritonitis.
2. Extraintestinal foci of infection:
3. Parenchymal non-icteric hepatitis.
4. Mesadenitis (inflammation of mesenteric lymph nodes).
5. Reactive pancreatitis.
6. Myocarditis.
7. Arthritis.

Class and exam questions

What else to study on this topic

• Mechanisms of formation of extraintestinal foci in zooanthroponotic infections
• Differential diagnosis of campylobacteriosis with food-borne toxic infections (FTI)
• Pathogenesis of the development of grade II–III exicosis in acute intestinal infections
• Differential diagnosis of hemocolitis in young children

Other topics from the section «Chapter 12. Infectious and parasitic diseases»

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