Despite decades of research on the effects of zinc in infectious diarrhea, there is surprisingly little consensus on how zinc works (or even if it works), on whether zinc’s effects are pathogen-specific, and what patient populations are most likely to benefit from zinc supplementation. Some recent articles focus on the growthpromoting effects of zinc on the pathogen itself, leading the reader t...

In a one-year prospective study carried out to define the role of rotavirus and Escherichia coli in local childhood diarrhea, we determined the prevalence of both agents in 54 diarrheic children attending a health center in Botucatu. Diarrheogenic E. coli (DEC) strains were characterized by O:H serotyping, a search for virulence genetic markers, and assays of adherence to HEp-2 cells. Except fo...

In 2011, a Shiga toxin (Stx) type 2a-producing enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) strain of serotype O104:H4 caused a large lethal outbreak in Northern Europe. Until recently, the pathogenic mechanisms explaining the high virulence of the strain have remained unclear. Our laboratories have shown that EAEC genes encoded on the pAA virulence plasmid, particularly the AggR-regulated AAF/I fimbriae, ...

We examined stool samples from travelers for secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA) to enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) during episodes of acute diarrhea. Ten paired samples from 10 patients with diarrhea caused by EAEC were examined for the presence of specific sIgA by dot blot and Western blot immunoassays. Five samples were positive by dot blotting, and two samples were positive by Weste...

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) cause acute and persistent diarrhoea worldwide, but little is known about their epidemiology in Mexico. We determined the prevalence of bacterial enteropathogens in 831 children with acute diarrhoea over a four-year period in Yucatan, Mexico. Six DEC supplementary virulence genes (SVG), mainly associated with enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), were sought in ...

BACKGROUND Bacterial and viral enteric pathogens are the leading cause of diarrhea in infants and children. We aimed to identify and characterize the main human diarrheagenic E. coli (DEC) in stool samples obtained from children less than 5 years of age, hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis in Israel, and to examine the hypothesis that co-infection with DEC and other enteropathogens is associ...

Introduction: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) including enteropathogenic (EPEC), enteroaggregative (EAEC), enterotoxigenic (ETEC), and shiga toxin producing E. coli are among the most common agents of diarrhea. There are various classes of iron uptake receptors, but there is not much data on the presence of these iron receptors in DEC isolates. The present study aimed to evaluate the prese...

Formalin-stored HEp-2 cells were used to assay Escherichia coli for adherence. Cells refrigerated in formalin for up to 28 days and used in a wet assay format demonstrated an assay sensitivity ranging from 94 to 98% to detect enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). HEp-2 cells first fixed and stored with formalin and then stored dry in ambient conditions for 6 weeks demonstrated an assay sensitivity ...

Purpose: Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is an emerging foodborne pathogen as a significant diarrheal pathogen in multiple population groups. However, the associated phenotypic changes by which EAEC bacteria survive acid conditions, as it passes through the human digestive track, is not completely understood. Materials and methods: EAEC (T8) was grown in vitro by mimicking the in vivo...

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) is a significant cause of diarrhoeal illness in both children and adults. Genetic heterogeneity and recovery of EAEC strains from both healthy and diseased individuals complicates our understanding of EAEC pathogenesis. We wished to establish if genetic or phenotypic attributes could be used to distinguish between strains asymptomatically colonising hea...