EPIDEMIC ENTEROPATHOGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI NEWFOUNDLAND 1963 - AUTOPSY STUDY OF 16 CASES

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  • 1 January 1967
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 96  (7) , 392-+
Abstract
The autopsy findings and certain other features are described in 16 fatal cases of infantile diarrhea associated with enteropathogenic E. coli infection during the 1963 epidemic in Newfoundland which resulted in 100 deaths. Age is an important factor in the severity of the infection and in the outcome. Almost 1/2 the patients were under 4 mo. and a 3rd under 2 mo. Pathological changes in the gastrointestinal tract were meager, and were not pathognomonic. Other pathological findings and their possible role in the severity and fatal outcome in enteropathogenic E. coli gastroenteritis are discussed. Such conditions as prematurity, congenital anomaly, trauma, neoplasm and metabolic disorders were also important factors in the outcome. Severe respiratory tract infection was the leading terminal cause of death. No sex, seasonal or geographic variation was found. Enteropathogenic E. coli serotype 0111:B4 was the prevalent infecting organism.