title: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in children from Costa Rica.
abstract: More than 5,000 diarrheal cases per year receive medical care at the National Children's Hospital of Costa Rica, and nearly 5% of them require hospitalization. A total of 173 Escherichia coli strains isolated from children with diarrhea were characterized at the molecular, serologic, and phenotypic level. Multiplex and duplex polymerase chain reactions were used to detect the six categories of diarrheagenic E. coli. Thirty percent (n = 52) of the strains were positive, indicating a high prevalence among the pediatric population. Enteropathogenic E. coli and enteroinvasive E. coli pathotypes were the most prevalent (21% and 19%, respectively). Pathogenic strains were distributed among the four E. coli phylogenetic groups A, B1, B2, and D, with groups A and B1 the most commonly found. This study used molecular typing to evaluate the prevalence of diarrheagenic E. coli reported in Costa Rica and demonstrated the importance of these pathotypes in the pediatric population.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio Clínico Hospital Nacional de Niños Dr. Carlos Sáenz Herrera, San José, Costa Rica. cperezc@hnn.sa.cr
authors.forename: Cristian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.forename: Oscar G
authors.initials: OG
authors.lastname: Gómez-Duarte
authors.forename: María L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Arias
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003364:Costa Rica / Q000453:epidemiology; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010802:Phylogeny; D012703:Serotyping
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents