title: Territorial waters of the Baltic Sea as a source of infections caused by Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139: report of 3 hospitalized cases.
abstract: A fatal infection with temporal relation to 2 other febrile infections caused by Vibrio cholerae non-O1, non-O139 (NCV) occurred in Finland in 2003. All infections were associated with contact with seawater. The patient who died had also eaten home-salted whitefish, tested positive for NCV, preceding his symptoms. All patients had compromising factors, and all strains were distinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and negative for the ctx gene. These 3 cases illustrate that, despite being uncommon in Finland, NCVs can cause clinically significant and even fatal infections.
authors.affiliation: Enteric Bacteria Laboratory, Department of Bacterial and Inflammatory Diseases, National Public Health Institute (KTL), FIN-00300 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Susanna
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lukinmaa
authors.forename: Kimmo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mattila
authors.forename: Ville
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lehtinen
authors.forename: Marjaana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakkinen
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koskela
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siitonen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002771:Cholera / Q000382:microbiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D044163:Vibrio cholerae non-O1 / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D014871:Water Microbiology