Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in children with acute diarrhoea and controls in Teresina/PI, Brazil: distribution of enterotoxin and colonization factor genes
Nunes, M.R.C.M.; Penna, F.J.; Franco, R.T.; Mendes, E.N.; Magalhães, P.P.
Journal of applied microbiology 111(1): 224-232
2011
ISSN/ISBN: 1364-5072 PMID: 21496189 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.2011.05031.xDocument Number: 225824
To investigate the distribution of the genes that encode enterotoxins and the CF types as well as the antibiotic susceptibility profile of ETEC isolated from children from the Brazilian Northeast. and we conducted a 3.5-year prospective study that involved 25 children with and 15 without diarrhea, aged 1-6 months, from low income families in Teresina/Brazilian Northeast. All samples were assayed for Escherichia coli, enterotoxin and CF genes and antimicrobial susceptibility by microbiological methods and PCR. ETEC strains were isolated from 9.2% children with and 4.% without diarrhea. Infection was more common in children aged 6-24 months in rainy months. elt+/CFA/IV+ and elt+/CS14+ were the most frequent genotypes. Susceptibility to nalidixic acid, ciprofloxacin, and gentamicin and resistance to ampicillin, cephalothin, and sulfamethoxazole trimethoprim were common. ?elt+ isolates and ETEC strains harboring genes encoding CFA/IV and CS/14 were the most common ETEC found in Brazilian Northeast.Significance and Impact of the Study: our data, the first generated for Northeastern Brazilian children, may be important for the development of an effective vaccine and for facilitation of an empirical choice of antibiotic treatment or prophylaxis for traveler s diarrhea in the area studied.