ABSTRACT
Yersinia enterocolitica infections are being recognized more frequently as we become increasingly familiar with their clinical symptomatology and the bacteriologic characteristics of the microorganism. The original descriptions of infection in the 1930s include children with diarrhea and abdominal pain, the most common manifestations of this illness. In recently completed prospective study of Y. enterocolitica gastroenteritis of children, bacteriologic spread within the household of infected children was common and occurred in 30% of 66 families with 29% of 45 exposed children and 8.4% of 134 adult contacts becoming infected. Y. enterocolitica is a common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in Montreal children. Bacteremia is apparently rare in normal children with Y. enterocolitica infection. Abdominal pain is often the most striking feature of Y. enterocolitica infection. In preschoolers this usually accompanies diarrhea; however in older children the pain may suggest the diagnosis of appendicitis and diarrhea is absent.
