Controlled study of cytolethal distending toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections in Bangladeshi children.
The role of cytolethal distending toxin (CDT)-producing Escherichia coli, a newly described category of E. coli, in the causation of diarrhea was studied by screening E. coli isolates from 546 children < 5 years of age with diarrhea and 215 matched controls without diarrhea by using a specific DNA probe. Although CDT-positive E. coli strains were isolated from more children with diarrhea than from healthy controls (3.1 versus 0.93%), this difference did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.082). All CDT-positive strains also possessed the virulence factors of enteropathogenic E. coli or enteroaggregative E. coli isolates.
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh. albert%cholera@external.ait.ac.th
M J
MJ
Albert
S M
SM
Faruque
A S
AS
Faruque
K A
KA
Bettelheim
P K
PK
Neogi
N A
NA
Bhuiyan
J B
JB
Kaper
D000208:Acute Disease; D001427:Bacterial Toxins / Q000032:analysis*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000209:etiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000209:etiology*; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; C067044:cytolethal distending toxin