title: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli.
abstract: Most Escherichia coli strains live harmlessly in the intestines and rarely cause disease in healthy individuals. Nonetheless, a number of pathogenic strains can cause diarrhea or extraintestinal diseases both in healthy and immunocompromised individuals. Diarrheal illnesses are a severe public health problem and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in infants and young children, especially in developing countries. E. coli strains that cause diarrhea have evolved by acquiring, through horizontal gene transfer, a particular set of characteristics that have successfully persisted in the host. According to the group of virulence determinants acquired, specific combinations were formed determining the currently known E. coli pathotypes, which are collectively known as diarrheagenic E. coli. In this review, we have gathered information on current definitions, serotypes, lineages, virulence mechanisms, epidemiology, and diagnosis of the major diarrheagenic E. coli pathotypes.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: tatg.amaral@unifesp.br.
authors.forename: Tânia A T
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.affiliation: Instituto Butantan, Laboratório de Bacterologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Waldir P
authors.initials: WP
authors.lastname: Elias
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Isabel C A
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Scaletsky
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Departamento de Microbiologia, Imunologia e Parasitologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Beatriz E C
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Guth
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Juliana F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Rodrigues
authors.affiliation: Instituto Butantan, Laboratório de Bacterologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roxane M F
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Piazza
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Departamento de Microbiologia, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luís C S
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Universidade de São Paulo, Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Toxicológicas, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marina B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Martinez
mesh_terms: D003967:Diarrhea / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000145:classification* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology*; D004927:Escherichia coli Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D015995:Prevalence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: Diarrhea; Epidemiology; Escherichia coli; Pathogenic mechanisms; Virulence factor