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Escherichia coli O121:H19 infection identified on microagglutination assay and PCR
Author(s) -
Sakai Tomoyuki,
Sawai Toshihiro,
Shimizu Yasuyo,
Morimune Takao,
Okuda Yusuke,
Maruo Yoshihiro,
Iyoda Sunao,
Takeuchi Yoshihiro
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
pediatrics international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.49
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1442-200X
pISSN - 1328-8067
DOI - 10.1111/ped.12699
Subject(s) - stx2 , shiga toxin , medicine , escherichia coli , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , polymerase chain reaction , shiga like toxin , biology , gene , genetics
Non‐O157 Shiga toxin‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC) strains are increasingly recognized as foodborne pathogens that trigger hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The detection and isolation of these strains is important, but distinguishing their bacteriological profiles is difficult. A 2‐year‐old girl developed HUS with mild renal involvement 22 days after consuming barbecued meat. Clinical and laboratory findings gradually improved without specific treatment. Because neither enterohemorrhagic E . coli (EHEC) nor Shiga toxins were detected in stool cultures in a clinical laboratory and the patient tested negative for circulating antibodies to O157 lipopolysaccharide, the case was initially diagnosed as probable atypical HUS. Subsequent serodiagnostic microagglutination assay and polymerase chain reaction‐based molecular testing, however, indicated the presence of the EHEC O121:H19 strain with stx2 . Thus, to correctly diagnose and treat HUS, a system for detecting non‐O157 STEC in a clinical setting is urgently needed.