Detection ofEscherichia coliEnteropathogens by Multiplex Polymerase Chain Reaction from Children's Diarrheal Stools in Two Caribbean–Colombian Cities

Abstract

Acute diarrheal disease is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality in the developing world and Escherichia coli intestinal pathogens are important causative agents. Information on the epidemiology of E. coli intestinal pathogens and their association with diarrheal disease is limited because no diagnostic testing is available in countries with limited resources. To evaluate the prevalence of E. coli intestinal pathogens in a Caribbean–Colombian region, E. coli clinical isolates from children with diarrhea were analyzed by a recently reported two-reaction multiplex polymerase chain reaction (Gomez-Duarte et al., Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 2009;63:1–9). The phylogenetic group from all E. coli isolates was also typed by a single-reaction multiplex polymerase chain reaction. We found that among 139 E. coli strains analyzed, 20 (14.4%) corresponded to E. coli diarrheagenic pathotypes. Enterotoxigenic, shiga-toxin–producing, enteroaggregative, diffuse adherent, and enteropathogenic E. coli pathotypes were detected, and most of them belonged to the phylogenetic groups A and B1, known to be associated with intestinal pathogens. This is the first report on the molecular characterization of E. coli diarrheogenic isolates in Colombia and the first report on the potential role of E. coli in childhood diarrhea in this geographic area.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli associated with childhood diarrhoea in Colombia, South America

“…This may be the result of a better potable water supply and sanitation conditions on communities living in at high socio-economic levels. These data corroborate the previously reported prevalence data, in which ETEC was the most frequent pathogen isolated from children with diarrhoea in Cartagena, Colombia [21]. ETEC is estimated to cause 200 million cases of diarrhoea yearly, leading to 150,000 deaths [35].…”

“…The supernatant containing crude genomic DNA was used as a DNA template on a two-sample multiplex PCR reaction for identification of E. coli pathotypes. The two-sample multiplex PCR was performed as previously described [21]. In brief, genomic DNA from classic E. coli pathotypes was used as positive controls and genomic DNA from E. coli HB101 laboratory strain was used as negative controls, as described earlier [8].…”

“…The pathotypes identified included ETEC, STEC, EAEC, DAEC, and EPEC, with ETEC being the most common pathotype [21]. Some E. coli clinical isolates had more than one virulence gene detected and were designated as mixed pathotypes [22].…”

Impact of Aeromonas and diarrheagenic Escherichia coli screening in patients with diarrhea in Paraná, southern Brazil

“…These strains are increasingly being implicated as important causes of gastroenteritis around the world [3]. In Switzerland, a frequency of 8% of DEC was found among children with diarrhea [20], while among Caribbean-Colombian children, a rate of 14.4% was reported [26], and in Brazil, rates from 7.6% to 48% [11,[27][28][29][30] have been reported. In India, a frequency of 52% of DEC was found among children under five years of age with diarrhea [31], and in Ghana, these bacteria were recovered from 77% of children and 38% of adults with diarrhea [32].…”

Molecular characterization and evaluation of antimicrobial susceptibility of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) isolated from minas soft cheese

“…A substantial progress and development has been achieved based on nucleic acids analysis; thus the amplification of specific DNA sequences of those genes has been used as an appropriate tool for the challenging task of finding pathogenic E. coli in clinical samples (GÓMEZ-DUART et al, 2009) and food samples (LÓPEZ-SAUCEDO et al, 2003). Furthermore, another concern is the probability of human intestinal mucosa colonization by microorganisms which are resistant to the antimicrobial frequently used to treat illnesses caused by ingestion of contaminated food (DIAS et al, 2010).…”