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This study determined the frequency of Yersinia enterocolitica infection in 300 children with acute diarrhoea aged 0-12 years who were attending a paediatric hospital in Tehran. Over the 5-month study [May-September 2002], Yersinia species and other organisms were cultured and serotyped from stool samples or swabs. Yersinia spp. were found in 8 cases [2.7%]. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli was isolated in 5.7% of cases, Shigella spp. in 3.0% and Salmonella spp. in 2.0%. None of the Y. enterocolitica belonged to the common serotypes of O:3 and O:9. Atypical Yersinia spp. [Y. intermedia and Y. frederiksenii] were isolated. All Y. enterocolitica isolates had a similar pattern of antimicrobial resistance. Yersinia spp. infections are not common in the summer months in Tehran

Shigellosis, one of the most common bacterial diarrhoeal diseases, is endemic throughout the world. It is one of the major causes of morbidity in children with diarrhoea in Iran [1-4]. Antibiotic therapy is useful and effective for shigellosis. Treatment is critical for persons with severe disease, particularly children and immunosuppressed patients. Use of an appropriate antibiotic therapy can shorten the duration of symptoms, significantly reduce the risk of transmission, and also prevent potentially lethal complications [5-7]. However, high frequencies of resistance in