A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of -Associated Diarrhea Among Children in Asia.

Diarrheal illness is a prominent public health worry in developing countries, resulting in high mortality among children. Sociodemographic characteristics and geographic settings are the main effective factors for the increased incidence of childhood diarrhea. is a neglected organism capable of causing dysentery and diarrhea. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of as an agent in the causation of diarrhea in Asian children. We conducted a systematic review using Web of Science, PubMed, Wiley Online Library, Science Direct, and Google Scholar for peer-reviewed articles published between January 2000 and February 2023. We considered studies that found in diarrheal stool. A random-effects model was used to determine the pooled prevalence of . Our search returned 2,057 articles, with 17 articles from seven Asian nations being included in the systematic review. The pooled prevalence of was 4.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.9%-6.8%), with heterogeneity ( = 96.85; p < 0.001). There was a greater prevalence in areas with high population living in poverty (12.2%; 95% CI: 5.8%-24%) and lower-middle-income countries (5.0%; 95% CI: 2.7%-9.0%). In addition, the prevalence of was greater in South Asia (10.0%; 95% CI: 5.6%-17.2%), in India (12.9%; 95% CI: 6.8%-23%), and in countries with open defecation rate of 5%-25% (11.3%; 95% CI: 6.3%-19.2%). The prevalence of -associated diarrhea in children in Asia estimated in the present study highlighted the high burden of in some parts of Asia.