Situación de las enfermedades gastrointestinales en México

Gastrointestinal diseases are one of the main public health problems in Mexico. They are transmitted through water and contaminated food as well as through the faecal-oral route. These diseases affect mainly the pediatric population, and their incidence and prevalence depend on the socioeconomic level of the patients. Viruses, parasites, and bacteria are the involved pathogenic agents. In clinical laboratories, search and identification focus mainly on classic pathogens, such as Salmonella, Shigella, Escherichia, Vibrio, Campylobacter, and Yersinia. It is important to consider other pathogens, like Aeromonas, which have been documented in other countries as pathogenic agent of gastrointestinal diseases and markers of fecal contamination in the water. The present text begins with some general aspects on the situation of gastrointestinal diseases, including diarrhea, which is one of the main syndromes affecting children under the age of 5, and its classification, and ends with the description of the main digestive tract diseases. It is important to know the situation of gastrointestinal diseases in our country; therefore, this review focuses, on one side, on some data related to the number of reported cases in the epidemiology bulletin of the Mexican Republic, covering mainly data from 2000 to 2008; as well as on data gathered from other studies performed in our country and other countries, to obtain a clear picture of the situation of these diseases, mainly those of infectious origin.