ASSOCIATION OF VIRULENCE FACTOR-POSITIVE AND -NEGATIVE ENTEROAGGREGATIVE ESCHERICHIA COLI AND OCCURRENCE OF CLINICAL ILLNESS IN TRAVELERS FROM THE UNITED STATES TO MEXICO
- 1 November 2003
- journal article
- Published by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
- Vol. 69 (5) , 506-508
- https://doi.org/10.4269/ajtmh.2003.69.506
Abstract
The objective of the study was to determine if the presence or absence of virulence factor-positive and -negative enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) determined the occurrence of illness or sub-clinical EAEC infection in travelers from the United States to Mexico. Sixty-five newly arrived college students from the United States submitted weekly stool samples for a four-week period of time. Among EAEC-infected subjects, diarrhea occurred in those with a defined virulence factor with the following frequency: aggA, 5 of 15 (33%); aggR, 3 of 11 (27%); aafA, 3 of 8 (38%); and aspU, 1 of 6 (17%). Twenty-two of 31 students (71%) had two or more EAEC infections. After the initial EAEC infection, only 4 (11%) of 31 students had a subsequent symptomatic EAEC infection. Our study suggests that clinical illness by EAEC is not explained by presence of a defined EAEC virulence factors, and we provide suggestive evidence that EAEC infection protects against future symptomatic infection.Keywords
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