Related Experiment Videos
[Bacteriological investigation on an outbreak of acute enteritis associated with verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli
Insights
An outbreak of acute enteritis in children was linked to Escherichia coli O111:H-. This pathogen produced Shiga toxins, leading to severe illness, including hemolytic uremic syndrome and one fatality.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Microbiology
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- An outbreak of acute enteritis occurred in a private orphanage in Matsuyama City in June 1986.
- The affected population comprised children aged one to thirty-three months.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the cause of an acute enteritis outbreak in young children.
- To identify the etiological agent and its pathogenic mechanisms.
Main Methods:
- Clinical data collection on symptoms including diarrhea, bloody stool, fever, and vomiting.
- Isolation and identification of bacterial pathogens from patient fecal specimens.
- In vitro toxin production assays and animal model studies (rabbit ileal loops, mice lethality).
Main Results:
- Twenty-two out of 23 children experienced diarrhea; nine had bloody stool.
- Escherichia coli O111:H- was isolated from 7 of 15 patients.
- The isolated E. coli produced both Vero toxins (VT1 and VT2), with VT2 being predominant.
Conclusions:
- Escherichia coli O111:H- producing Vero toxins was identified as the causative agent of the enteritis outbreak.
- The pathogen's ability to produce toxins contributed to severe clinical manifestations, including hemolytic uremic syndrome.
- This outbreak highlights the public health risk posed by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli in pediatric populations.
Abstract:
An outbreak of acute enteritis in children aged one to thirty-three months occurred from June 10th to 23rd, 1986, at a private orphanage in Matsuyama City. Twenty-two out of 23 children suffered from diarrhea. Nine of the 22 children excreted bloody stool. Fever and vomiting were observed with a few patients. One of them, a 33-month-old girl, developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, and died twelve days after the admission. Escherichia coli O111:H- was isolated from fecal specimens of 7 out of 15 patients. The culture filtrate of the isolate caused fluid accumulation in ligated ileal loops in a rabbit, and was lethal to mice. It was found that all isolates produced two kinds of Vero toxins (VT1 and VT2, or shiga-like toxin I and II). The amount of VT2 produced in vitro was about 10 times more than that of VT1.