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Page No. : 79-83

ABSTRACT

Escherichia coli is one of the most important causes diarrhea in infants and children with severe complication. Therefore, a study was undertaken to know the occurrence of E. coli pathotypes in diarrheal cases of children. Stool samples (total 100) were immediately processed for isolation and identification of E. coli. Biochemically confirmed isolates were screened for different pathotypes viz., shigatoxic E. coli (STEC), enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and enteroinvassive E. coli (EIEC) by an PCR targeting virulence genes viz., stx1 and stx2, lth, eaeA and bfpA, respectively. Of the 32 confirmed E. coli, 24 were diarrheagenic strains. The frequency of distribution was recorded as STEC (15/46.87%), ETEC (12/37.50%) and EPEC (6/ 18.75%). None of the isolate was positive for hly gene specific to EIEC. Six (18.75%) E. coli strains harboured multiple virulent genes of different pathotypes. E. coli isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin (90.62%), ceftriaxone (90.62%), cephotaxime (87.5%), enerofloxacin (84.37%) and norfloxacin (81.25%), while few strains expressed resistance to ampicillin (43.75%), cloxacillin (40.75%), tetracycline (34.37%) and oxytetracycline (21.87%). Further surveillance studies are required to investigate the ecological, socioeconomic and epidemiological basis of diarrheagenic E. coli with special reference to STEC strains and their association with human diarrheal illness.

Keywords: Antimicrobial susceptibility, children, diarrhea, E. coli pathotypes