Results of screening for verocytotoxin-producingEscherichia coli in faeces in Belgium

Abstract

During an 18-month period all stools submitted to a microbiology laboratory in Belgium for culture were screened for VerocytotoxinproducingEscherichia coli (VTEC) serotype O157. In the stool samples from 3940 patients, eight (0.2 %) VTEC O157 strains were isolated, seven of which were O157:H7. Additional screening for other serotypes of VTEC in 332 selected stool samples yielded four more strains (serotypes O2:K1:H6, O111:H⁻, O117:K1:H7 and O“C70/86”:H⁻). The 0.3 % isolation rate for all VTEC was comparable to that forShigella spp. Eight children under 30 months and two adults suffered from uncomplicated gastroenteritis. A 5-month-old child and a 41-year-old woman presented with hemolytic uremic syndrome a few days after onset of a diarrheal episode.