Enterotoxigenic and invasive Escherichia coli as causes of childhood diarrhoea in Finland.
E. coli was considered as the possible aetiologic agent in 16 cases (5.7%) of 283 hospital admissions for diarrhoea. One invasive strain was isolated from a case with exudative diarrhoea. Four heat-labile (LT) enterotoxin-producing strains were found in relatively mild cases of diarrhoea. Eleven strains belonged to "classic" pathogenic serotypes (EPEC); 9 of these were endemic cases and 2 associated with travel. Of the latter, 1 strain (078) was also found to produce heat-stable (ST) enterotoxin detectable by infant mouse assay. Although EPEC are now found much less frequently than 20 years ago, E. coli as a whole may still be the most common bacterial aetiology of childhood diarrhoea in Finland.
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology*; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000209:etiology*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000032:analysis; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D012703:Serotyping
D004768:Enterotoxins