en بیوشیمی Biochemistry <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Background:</strong></em> <em>Aeromonashydrophila (A. hydrophila)</em> is an aquatic bacterium that can cause a spectrum of infectious diseases, including both gastrointestinal and extraintestinal infections. Due to the high rate of diarrheal infections in pediatric patients in central Iran, this study was designed to determine the frequency of <em>A. hydrophila</em> in diarrhea samples from children in this region.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Methods:</strong></em> In this descriptive cross-sectional study, diarrheal stool specimens were collected from 200 children admitted between February and October of 2015 to educational and medical centers affiliated with the Arak University of Medical Sciences. The samples were analyzed both phenotypically by culture and genotypically by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Results:</strong></em> <em>A. hydrophila </em>was isolated from two of the 200 samples tested (1%). The presence of bacterial genetic markers further confirmed the diagnosis.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><em><strong>Conclusions:</strong></em> Based on this study, <em>A. hydrophilais</em> not highly prevalent in children with diarrhea in Arak; however clinical diagnostic laboratory personnel should be aware of the possible presence of<em> A.hydrophila</em> in children with diarrhea as it can cause dangerous health problems in both them and young adolescents.</p> Aeromonas hydrophila, Diarrhea, Frequency, Iran, Pediatrics 15 19 http://rbmb.net/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-59&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Elnaz Abbasi 10031947532846006151 10031947532846006151 No Department of Microbiology & Immunology Faculty of Medicine Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran Behzad Khansari-nejad 10031947532846006152 10031947532846006152 No Department of Microbiology & Immunology Faculty of Medicine Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran Hamid Abtahi 10031947532846006153 10031947532846006153 No Molecular and Medicine Research Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran Majid Akbari 10031947532846006154 10031947532846006154 No Department of Microbiology & Immunology Faculty of Medicine Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran Ehsanollah Ghaznavi-rad e.ghaznavirad@arakmu.ac.ir 10031947532846006155 10031947532846006155 Yes Department of Microbiology & Immunology Faculty of Medicine Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran - Molecular and Medicine Research Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran