Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli identification in pediatric patients hospitalized for acute gastroenteritis

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli infection may be cause of diarrhoea in infants, but usually it is not routinely detected and regarded as relevant causative agents. The aim of the present study is to estimate the incidence, investigate the epidemiology and pathogenesis of enteropathogenic E.coli from faecal specimens in pediatric patients hospitalized because of gastroenteritis. Between november 2003 and december 2004, faecal specimens were obtained from infants admitted to hospital for acute gastroenteritis and examined to recognize diarrhoeal etiology, especially for E. coli, by cultural identification and multiplex-PCR, to investigate responsible pathogenicity genes.