The incidence and epidemiological significance of Campylobacter jejuni/coli serotypes in Romania

The distribution per serotypes of 401 Campylobacter strains was studied by Lior's procedure, 241 strains being identified as C. jejuni (60.1%) and 160 as C. coli (39.9%): out of these 329 were of human origin (82%), including 225 C. jejuni and 104 C. coli, and 72 were isolated from fowls and swine (16 C. jejuni, 56 C. coli). Out of the total of 401 strains, 363 (90.5%) were typable. Among human strains, 32 serotypes were identified, more frequently encountered being (in a decreasing order) 29, 4, 21, 2, 1, 9, 59, 44, 36, 48, 28, 8, 47, 5, 11, 57, 10, 32, 55 which sum up 89.5% of the 296 typable strains. Within C. jejuni species, serogroup 4 was the predominant one and for the C. coli one--29. Animal strains were distributed into 16 serogroups out of which 29, 26, 48, 55, 44 were more frequently encountered. The serogroups identified among animal strains were encountered, with a single exception, among human strains, too, but with a different frequency. The importance of serogrouping as an epidemiological marker, was confirmed by serogroup identity of the strains within some family foci, by the oneness, as serogroups, in the case of repeated isolations from the same patient as well as by establishing an epidemiological diagnosis, in the case of an epidemic, occurring among the members of a given community.