Molecular epidemiology of Escherichia coli diarrhoea in children in Tehran.
From July to December 2003, four categories of diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli were investigated in Tehranian children with acute diarrhoea. Stool specimens of children under 5 years of age with diarrhoea (n=200) and matched controls (n=200) without diarrhoea were studied for the presence of entero-aggregative (EAEC), enteropathogenic (EPEC), enterotoxigenic (ETEC) and Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) E. coli by PCR identification of six different genes of diarrhoeagenic E. coli. STEC isolates were typed by O157 and H7 antisera. EAEC was the most prevalent category and was found in 24% of patients with diarrhoea and 8% of controls (p<0.0001). ETEC was isolated in 15.5% of patients with diarrhoea but not in any controls ( p<0.0001), STEC in 15% of patients and 2% of controls (p<0.0001) and EPEC in 6% of patients and 5% of controls. Of 30 STEC isolates from patients with diarrhoea, seven were O157:H7 and 23 were non-O157:H7.
Salmanzadeh-Ahrabi
Siavosh
S
Department of Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases, Research Center for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. salmanzadeh1@yahoo.com
Habibi
Effat
E
Jaafari
Fereshteh
F
Zali
Mohammad-Reza
MR
D000208:Acute Disease; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D015995:Prevalence