Prevalence of Escherichia coli Pathotypes Among Children With Diarrhea in Babol, Northern Iran

Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) are major causes of diarrhea in the world particularly among infants and young children.
The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of DEC strains in stool samples from children under 5 years old.
Patients and Stool specimens were collected from 200 children under 5 years visiting hospital due to gastroenteritis. E. coli pathotypes were detected by using conventional culture techniques and polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
Sixty-eight (34%) out of 200 specimens were positive for DEC. Different pathotypes would show the following profiles: 43 (21.5%) for enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC); 18 (9%) for enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) including 10 (55.5%) st positive, 6 (33.3%) lt positive and 2 (11.1%) st and lt both positive; 6 (3%) for enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) and 1 (0.5%) for enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC). Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) was not isolated from any of the E. coli strains tested.
This study shows that DEC is a common cause of childhood diarrhea in Babol. EPEC and ETEC were the most frequent pathotypes in the population under study.