A case of acute diarrhea due to the emerging pathogen Campylobacter jejuni subsp. doylei in Southern Chile

Abstract

The first documented case of acute diarrhea due to C. jejuni subsp. doylei in Chile is reported. The clinical findings, the absence of other enteropathogens, virus or parasites and the fact that C. jejuni subsp. doylei was the only bacteria isolated support the assumption that it was the etiological agent of this diarrheal case.

Evaluación de la tinción de Hucker para la búsqueda rutinaria de Campylobacter sp en el estudio de un síndrome diarreico agudo

“…El género incluye varias especies, siendo C. jejuni subsp jejuni y C. coli los más frecuentemente aislados en infecciones humanas, aunque se reportan otras especies menos comunes como C. upsaliensis 11 , C. fetus y otros. Se ha descrito en Sudamérica y en Chile como patógeno emergente a C. jejuni subsp doylei, causante de diarrea secretora aguda 12,13 . En nuestro país no se realiza el cultivo especí-fico para Campylobacter en forma rutinaria dado el alto costo en el laboratorio; requiere de medios selectivos e incubación en microaerofilia a 42° C. Se ha recomendado como alternativa de diagnós-tico presuntivo rápido, de buen rendimiento y bajo costo, el uso de la tinción con cristal violeta de Hucker 14 , que de acuerdo a datos nacionales tiene una sensibilidad de 80% y valor predictor positivo de 56% 15 .…”

Occurrence of campylobacter species in healthy well-nourished and malnourished children

“…C. jejuni subsp. doylei is susceptible to cephalothin, present in Skirrow agar plates, and does not grow at 42ºC, all of which may explain these results (8). Previously, we reported the isolation of this microorganism from a child suffering acute diarrhea by using the same passive filtration methodology (8).…”

“…jejuni as the species most frequently isolated from cases of gastroenteritis followed by C. coli (5,16). More recently, other Campylobacter species have been recognized as gastrointestinal pathogens in both industrialized and developing countries (8,11). In developing countries, the isolation of Campylobacter from children without diarrhoea is well-documented and it is probably related to poor environmental sanitary conditions and close contact with animals (2,5,15).…”

“…fetus, could be under-reported in clinical specimens. To avoid the misdiagnosis of Campylobacter species that could be involved in infectious processes, it is necessary to use, in addition to traditional selective methods, the filtration protocol as described by Le Roux and Lastovica (12) and Fernández et al (7,8). This method could improve routine diagnosis, surveillance and epidemiologic studies, and could result in better information about the prevalence, distribution and infectious processes associated with these under-reported Campylobacter species.…”