Chanqueo C Leonardo, García C Patricia, León C Eugenia, Blu F Antonieta
Departmento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
Rev Chilena Infectol. 2005 Sep;22(3):242-6. doi: 10.4067/s0716-10182005000300004. Epub 2005 Aug 2.
Campylobacter infection is one of the most frequent causes of gastroenteritis in the world and the third in Chile according to some studies. The routinary culture for Campylobacter in our country is not performed because of its high cost, and it is known, that the Hucker stain is a reasonable screening alternative. The objective of this study was to know the utility of the Hucker stain and estimate the frequency of Campylobacter in stool samples. A total of 5,750 stool samples received in the Catholic University Health Net Microbiology Laboratories, from March 2002 to May 2004, were studied with conventional stool culture and Hucker stain. In order to validate the Hucker stain with culture, during one month, all the stool samples were also studied with Campylobacter culture, with 35% sensitivity and 100% specificity. In 115/5.750 samples (2%), curved bacilli suggesting Campylobacter were observed by Hucker stain, and another 233 enteropathogens (4%) which corresponded to: 151 Salmonella sp, 55 Shigella sp, 25 enterohemorrhagic E coli, and 2 Yersinia sp were isolated. When analyzing the patients in whom the Hucker stain was positive, 62.2% were younger than 5 years and of these, 63.8% were infants. We conclude that the Hucker stain is a simple and specific method, although not very sensitive, that allows us to increase the yield of diagnosing enteric pathogens in a 33%. Campylobacter sp was in the second place after Salmonella sp in stool samples, and most frequent in young children. The active search for Campylobacter by means of culture is fundamental in the diagnosis of acute diarrhea.
弯曲杆菌感染是全球肠胃炎最常见的病因之一，在智利，根据一些研究，它是第三大病因。由于成本高昂，我国并未常规开展弯曲杆菌培养，而且已知赫克染色是一种合理的筛查替代方法。本研究的目的是了解赫克染色的效用，并估计粪便样本中弯曲杆菌的频率。2002年3月至2004年5月期间，天主教大学健康网络微生物学实验室共收到5750份粪便样本，采用常规粪便培养和赫克染色进行研究。为了用培养来验证赫克染色，在一个月内，所有粪便样本也采用弯曲杆菌培养进行研究，其灵敏度为35%，特异性为100%。在115/5750份样本（2%）中，赫克染色观察到提示弯曲杆菌的弯曲杆菌，另外分离出233种肠道病原体（4%），分别为：151株沙门氏菌、55株志贺氏菌、25株肠出血性大肠杆菌和2株耶尔森氏菌。分析赫克染色呈阳性的患者时，62.2%年龄小于5岁，其中63.8%为婴儿。我们得出结论，赫克染色是一种简单且特异的方法，尽管不太敏感，但能使我们将肠道病原体的诊断率提高33%。在粪便样本中，弯曲杆菌在沙门氏菌之后位居第二，在幼儿中最为常见。通过培养积极寻找弯曲杆菌在急性腹泻的诊断中至关重要。
