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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : June 29, 2014 3:32 PM IST
In a finding that may prevent thousands of deaths, researchers have identified new micro organisms that may trigger diarrheal disease and others that may protect against it.
'We were able to identify interactions between microbiota that were not previously observed, and we think that some of those interactions may actually help prevent the onset of severe diarrhea,' said lead researcher O Colin Stine, professor of epidemiology at University of Maryland School of Medicine in the US.
A better understanding of these interactions may lead to possible dietary interventions.
Moderate to severe diarrhea (MSD) is a major cause of childhood mortality in developing countries and ranks as one of the top four causes of deaths among young children in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
The researchers used a technique called high-throughput 16S rRNA genomic sequencing to examine both good and bad microbiota in samples taken from 992 children in Bangladesh, Gambia, Kenya and Mali under the age of five who were suffering from MSD.
The researchers identified statistically significant disease associations with several organisms already implicated in diarrheal disease, such as members of the Escherichia/Shigella genus and Campylobacter jejuni.
They also found that organisms not widely believed to cause the disease, including Streptococcus and Granulicatella, correlated with the condition in their study.
In addition, the study revealed that the Prevotella genus and Lactobacillus ruminis may play a protective role against diarrhoea. The findings were published in the journal Genome Biology.
What's causing the diarrhoa?
Most commonly, diarrhea is caused due to an infection, either by eating contaminated food (food poisoning), drinking unclean water or through transmission from a person who is suffering from the condition. Apart from this there are certain non-infectious conditions that can be the cause of diarrhea. Inflammation in the stomach lining, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis (a condition where a pouch forms in the wall of the stomach and gets infected), lactose intolerance (allergy to milk), allergies to certain foods, certain medications, side effect of certain surgeries (gallbladder removal or the removal of some part of the intestine) could also cause diarrhea.
With inputs from IANS
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