Abstract
Therefore, this study analyzed the serotypes, stx genotypes, and virulence factors in EHEC strains isolated in 1965-2013 from patients with diarrhea or bloody diarrhea and their family contacts. In addition, we characterized diagnostically relevant phenotypes of EHEC strains, their antimicrobial susceptibility, seasonal trends, and distribution by administrative region.
Material and methods: Serogrouped E. coli isolates from patients were referred to the National Reference Laboratory (NRL) for E. coli and Shigella for the detection of Stx. Specimens of both human and non-human origin were referred to the NRL for epidemiological investigation.
Serotyping was performed by conventional and molecular methods, PCR was applied to stx genotyping and identification of non-stx virulence factors, and standard methods were used for phenotypic analysis and antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The epidemiological link between the human and animal isolates was confirmed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE).
Conclusion: EHEC strains cause diarrhea and bloody diarrhea in the Czech Republic. Nevertheless, only a systematic screening of the stool from patients with diarrhea can make it possible to elucidate their actual role in the etiology of diarrheal diseases (as well as HUS) in the Czech Republic and to consider the data in the European context.
EHEC cases are reported to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) within the Food and Waterborne Diseases Surveillance Network.