Escherichia coli diarrhea: an outbreak among infants on a surgical ward.

In spite of the extraordinary advances made during the last few decades in sanitation and infant care, diarrheal disease, including epidemic diarrhea of the newborn, still contributes to a considerable extent to the morbidity in this age group. It is obvious that recent information on the etiology, modes of spread, and management must be utilized to the fullest in the control and management of this malady. It is clear that epidemic diarrhea of the infant is not a monoetiological disease. In some outbreaks members of the Salmonella group are responsible for the infection. It is possible that in others a virus, such as that isolated by Light and Hodes,* may be the etiological agent. However, there can be little doubt that certain serogroups of Escherichia coli are responsible for many epidemics. The present report describes an outbreak of E. coli 0111 diarrheal disease among infants on a surgical ward and