Studies on diarrheagenic Escherichia coli isolated from children with diarrhea in Myanmar.
Escherichia coli isolates from 217 children in Myanmar with diarrhea were investigated for the presence of virulence genes related to diarrhea by colony hybridization and PCR. The genes examined were lt, stI, stII, stx1, stx2, eae, bfp, pCVD (which is the representative gene of plasmid of pCVD of EAEC), and ial (which is invasion-associated locus of the invasion plasmid found in EIEC). Isolates from 47 of 217 children (21.7%) possessed virulence genes characteristic of diarrheagenic E. coli. No instance was found of co-existence of different E. coli strains with different virulence genes in the same patient. Diarrheagenic E. coli are currently classified into five categories based on their virulence markers: ETEC, EHEC, EPEC, EAEC, and EIEC. Of the 47 isolates examined, 30 were EAEC, 12 were EPEC and 5 were ETEC. Susceptibility tests for antimicrobial agents showed that almost all diarrheagenic isolates were resistant to penicillin, tetracycline and streptomycin. However, the majority of strains were sensitive to cephalexin, nalidixic acid and norfloxacin. In particular, 42 of the 47 isolates were sensitive to norfloxacin, which is a fluoroquinolone. This study shows EAEC and EPEC are responsible for sporadic diarrhea in Myanmar and fluoroquinolones appear to be effective in the treatment of these patients.
Takahashi
Eizo
E
Department of Protein Function, Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, Okayama, Japan.
Sultan
Zafar
Z
Shimada
Sumika
S
Aung
Wah Wah
WW
Nyein
Mar Mar
MM
Oo
Khin Nwe
KN
Nair
Gopinath Balakrish
GB
Takeda
Yoshifumi
Y
Okamoto
Keinosuke
K
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000382:microbiology*; D024901:Drug Resistance, Multiple, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000382:microbiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D002052:Myanmar; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods; D010957:Plasmids; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics*
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors