title: Use of antisera for identification of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli.
abstract: The usual methods for identifying enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) strains involve testing for production of heat-labile enterotoxins. To simplify the identification of ETEC, antisera against common ETEC O serogropus were used to identify ETEC in the stools from 618 patients with acute diarrhoea and dehydration (greater than or equal to 5% loss of body-weight) receiving treatment at a hospital in Dacca, Bangladesh. Compared with enterotoxin testing the antisera had a sensitivity of 64%, a specificity of 96%, and a predictive accuracy of 89%. These antisera may be useful in the identification ETEC in clinical laboratories which are unable to perform toxin testing and should be evaluated in other geographical areas.
mesh_terms: D003681:Dehydration; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000382:microbiology; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000145:classification*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D007106:Immune Sera