Clinical and microbiological features of Aeromonas hydrophila-associated diarrhea

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Abstract
The prevalence of A. hydrophila in stool specimens from patients with diarrhea was studied during 18 mo. A. hydrophila was found in 1.1% of patients with diarrhea and in none of 533 control patients (P. < 0.02). Cases were detected 1.5 times more often during the summer than the winter, and most occurred in children < 2 yr of age. Clinical featured included fever > 38.degree. C (55%), abdominal cramps (35%), vomiting (25%) and duration of illness > 10 days (50%). Detection of A. hydrophila in stools was facilitated by the use of sheep blood agar with 15 .mu.g of ampicillin/ml which was flooded with oxidase reagent after growth. A cytotoxin was produced by 62% of the isolates and the cytotoxic strains showed positive results in a hemolysin assay and a lysine decarboxylase reaction.