Introduction:

Acute diarrheal diseases (ADD) constitute a public health problem and are one of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity in children worldwide.

Objective:

To determine the prevalence of enteropathogens causing ADD in the metropolitan area of ​​Asunción and Central.

Materials and methods:

An observational, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. 743 samples of diarrheic feces were analyzed, in which the presence of Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli diarreigenic and Rotavirus was investigated, using reference techniques.

Results:

In 31.2% (232/743) of the samples it was possible to identify at least one of the enteric pathogens investigated, being the diarrhenetic E. coli were the most frequently identified bacteria, followed by Rotavirus, Campylobacter spp., Shigella spp. and lastly, Salmonella spp.

Conclusion:

The most affected population corresponds to children under 5 years of age. The main pathogen identified as the causative agent of diarrhea was diarrigenic E. coli, followed by Rotavirus, Campylobacter spp., Shigella spp. and Salmonella spp. In some samples more than one enteric pathogen was detected, even finding cases of coinfection with up to four different pathogens.

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