Epidemiology of persistent diarrhea among Guatemalan rural children

A prospective, longitudinal two-year study to determine the epidemiology of persistent (> or = 14 days' duration) diarrhea in rural children of Guatemala was undertaken. Three-hundred and twenty-one children aged 0-35 months were kept under surveillance by twice-a-week home visits. The overall incidence of diarrhea was 0.147 per child-week; the incidence of persistent diarrhea was 0.014 per child-week. The peak of persistent diarrhea was observed in infants below six months of age, with a continuous decline thereafter. This trend in incidence of persistent diarrhea was associated with a higher proportion (16%) of illnesses persisting for more than 13 days in children younger than six months of age as compared to children 30-35 months old (4%). Males had more diarrhea (0.156 per child-week) than females (0.139 per child week). Among children above 18 months of age, the proportion of episodes that lasted for more than 13 days was lower in females than in males.