Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli as a cause of diarrhoea among children in Singapore.

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) was isolated from 2.7% of 2983 children under 3 years of age with diarrhoea in Singapore. Of the nine serotypes identified, the most common were 0126:K71(B16), 086:K61(B7) and 0127:K63(B8). Infants were at the greatest risk of contracting gastroenteritis due to EPEC, and female children were slightly more susceptible than males. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests showed that the EPEC strains were generally resistant to ampicillin, streptomycin, tetracycline and triple sulpha, but highly sensitive to ceftriaxone and gentamicin.