This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ramotar, K. Articles by Louie, T. J. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ramotar, K. Articles by Louie, T. J.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, May 1995, 1114-1120, Vol 33, No. 5
Copyright © 1995 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Impact of free verotoxin testing on epidemiology of diarrhea caused by verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli

K Ramotar, E Henderson, R Szumski and TJ Louie
Department of Microbiology-Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

During a 10-week period in the summer of 1990, an epidemiologic investigation of the prevalence of verotoxin (VT)-producing Escherichia coli infection was conducted in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Consecutive stool specimens (n = 3,577) were cultured for E. coli O157:H7, and fecal filtrates were tested for free VTs (FVTs). E. coli O157:H7 was recovered from 22 specimens (0.6%), but VT was detected in 74 specimens (2.1%). Sixty-nine stool specimens positive for FVTs or E. coli O157:H7 were probed for VT genes by colony blot hybridization; 22 of 38 VT gene probe-positive isolates were non-O157:H7 E. coli organisms. Fourteen of 22 strains could not be induced to produce VT in vitro, despite the presence of FVTs in the stool sample, positivity on colony blot hybridization, positive PCR probes with the primers described by Pollard et al. (D. R. Pollard, W. M. Johnson, H. Lior, S. D. Tyler, and K. R. Rozee, J. Clin. Microbiol. 28:540-545, 1990) or Gannon et al. (V. P. Gannon, R. K. King, J. Y. Kim, and E. J. Golsteyn-Thomas, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 58:3809-3815, 1992) (but not those described by Karch and Meyer [H. Karch and T. Meyer, J. Clin. Microbiol. 27:2751- 2757, 1989]), and positive Southern blot analysis of isolates in 10 of 14 strains. The patient survey questionnaire showed that E. coli O157:H7 infection was associated with bloody diarrhea of short duration, whereas infection with other serotypes or persistence of FVT only was associated with longer-duration nonbloody diarrheal illness.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Pitout, J. D. D., Gregson, D. B., Church, D. L., Elsayed, S., Laupland, K. B. (2005). Community-Wide Outbreaks of Clonally Related CTX-M-14 {beta}-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli Strains in the Calgary Health Region. J. Clin. Microbiol. 43: 2844-2849 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Gavin, P. J., Peterson, L. R., Pasquariello, A. C., Blackburn, J., Hamming, M. G., Kuo, K. J., Thomson, R. B. Jr. (2004). Evaluation of Performance and Potential Clinical Impact of ProSpecT Shiga Toxin Escherichia coli Microplate Assay for Detection of Shiga Toxin-Producing E. coli in Stool Samples. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 1652-1656 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Blanco, J. E., Blanco, M., Alonso, M. P., Mora, A., Dahbi, G., Coira, M. A., Blanco, J. (2004). Serotypes, Virulence Genes, and Intimin Types of Shiga Toxin (Verotoxin)-Producing Escherichia coli Isolates from Human Patients: Prevalence in Lugo, Spain, from 1992 through 1999. J. Clin. Microbiol. 42: 311-319 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Park, C. H., Kim, H. J., Hixon, D. L., Bubert, A. (2003). Evaluation of the Duopath Verotoxin Test for Detection of Shiga Toxins in Cultures of Human Stools. J. Clin. Microbiol. 41: 2650-2653 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Park, C. H., Kim, H. J., Hixon, D. L. (2002). Importance of Testing Stool Specimens for Shiga Toxins. J. Clin. Microbiol. 40: 3542-3543 [Full Text]  
• Paton, J. C., Paton, A. W. (1998). Pathogenesis and Diagnosis of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Infections. Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 11: 450-479 [Abstract] [Full Text]