Gastroenteritis due to Campylobacter jejuni in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

During one year, 1452 specimens of faeces from patients with diarrhoea were investigated for Campylobacter jejuni. This organism was isolated from nine specimens only (0·6%). None was isolated from 160 control subjects who did not have diarrhoea. Though the number of isolates is small, diarrhoea due to C. jejuni was found to be more common in males the ratio of males to females was 7:2. Out of the nine patients, only four were Saudis. This indicates that Campylobacter gastroenteritis exists in this part of the world. Its incidence was, however, much lower than gastroenteritis due to other bacterial pathogens which constituted 7%. The source of infection was possibly chickens, both live and dressed. Most of the latter are imported.