Infectious Diarrheas: Acute, Chronic, and Iatrogenic

Excerpt

In both health and disease, the lumen of the gut is an intricate ecosystem that yields its mysteries grudgingly. Despite this complexity, the last decade has produced a virtual revolution in the ability of microbiologists to identify enteric pathogens. Among these new agents being identified are bacteria, including Campylobacter jejuni and several of its cousins, Clostridium difficile, Yersinia enterocolitica, new Vibrio species, and cytotoxin-producing strains of Escherichia coli; protozoans, notably Cryptosporidium, Blastocysts, and Isospora species; and viruses such as atypical rotaviruses and enteric adenoviruses. In this issue, Holmberg and colleagues (1, 2) from the Centers for Disease Control provide further