All issues > Volume 13(6); 1970

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1970;13(6):345-350. Published online June 30, 1970.

Clinical Observation of so-called “Pseudacholera Infantum”

Young-Joon Son¹, Soo-Hwan Kim¹, Tong-Kee Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Catholic Medical College Seoul, Korea

Abstract

In Korea and Japan pediatricians have experienced an infantile diarrhea epidemy in every fall to early winter. Though some kinds of nomination of this infantile diarrhea were given by several scholars, “Pseudocholera infantum”, which is nominated by professor Ito in 1910, is most prevalently used in Korea. The authors observed 486 cases diagnosed as pseudocholera infantum which were experienced from September 1967 to November 1968. Their chief complaints were sudden onset of vomitting and. watery diarrhea showing white to yellow-white in color. Rusults obtained from our study were as follows. 1.Age which held the highest percentage fell in the age ； group of 3 months to years, representing weaning period. The sex incidence was slightly higher in male than in female. Also breast fed infants(255 cases) were slightly higher than in cases of cow’s milk fed ones (231 cases). 2.Most of cases were developed between September to November in every year. Their peaks were on mid-October. 3.Fifty-one percent of cases were accompanied by respiratory infections and 57.6% of cases showed vomitting during all stages of illness. The vomitting as prodromal symptom was seen in 128 cases (26%). 4.The frequency of diarrhea were in the range of 3 to 7 times per day in 50. 2% of cases. 5.Most of them (72. 6%) were brought to under the control with starvation within 4 days and patients needed intravenous fluid therapy were only 4.1% of cases. All patients were recovered completely. 6.Comparing wigh climat there was no constant relation between the incidence and it, but it could be noted that majority of the cases were developed in the temperature of 10°C to 20°C. 7.Of all patients visited our clinic in this epidemic seasons 32% of cases were belong to pseudocholera and 44. 7% of cases were respiratory diseases. 8.Of all patients, 12 cases were recurred in same epidemic season and 5 cases on Autumn of next year. 9.Authors consider that this disease is related closly with epidemic common cold and the specificity of age incidence is related with local diathesis of gastrointestina tract. (Author’s abstract)

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