Aim

Childhood diarrhea caused by enteric bacteria remains an important public health problem in the developing countries. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of childhood diarrhea, etiological agents, antibiotic susceptibility patterns and associated risk factors in Eastern Ethiopia.

Subjects and methods

A total of 196 children under the age of 5 years with diarrhea were chosen for the study. Stool specimens were collected for the isolation of bacterial agents and their antibiotic susceptibility pattern using standard methods. Analysis of data was done using SPSS version 16.

Results

The overall prevalence of enteric bacteria observed in this study was 21.9%. The bacterial isolates identified were Escherichia coli (12.8%), Shigella species (5.6%) and Salmonella species (3.6%). Children using an unprotected spring/well source for their water supply were more likely to be infected with diarrhea-causing bacteria (AOR = 4.74, 95% CI: 1.48,15.13). None of the bacterial isolates showed resistance to ceftriaxone, while resistance to amoxicillin was observed for Shigella (100%), Salmonella (85.7%) and E. coli (56%) isolates. Resistance to ampicillin was found to be 90.9%, 71.4% and 52% for Shigella, Salmonella and E. coli isolates. All Shigella isolates were found to be multidrug resistant.

Conclusion

Interventions aimed to improve safe drinking water access should be strengthened/considered in the study area.