Enterotoxin-producing Escherichia coli and diarrhoea among newborn babies in Darwin

Specimens of Escherichia coli O119B14 isolated from 13 newborn babies during an outbreak of diarrhoea in Darwin Hospital were tested for their ability to produce enterotoxin. Of the 13 isolates tested none was found to produce heat-labile enterotoxin. However, isolates from two of the five diarrhoeal faecal specimens were found to produce moderate levels of heat-stable enterotoxin (ST). It seems like that ST-producing strains of E. coli were responsible for the diarrhoea.