A study of the incidence of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) secreting heat-labile toxin in two communities in south-western Nigeria.

The incidence of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) was investigated at oral rehydration therapy clinics in Ibadan and Ile-Ife. The incidence rate of ETEC was 74 (21.3%) of the 347 diarrhoeal stool samples examined. ETEC incidence rate was 25.1% in Ibadan and 12.0% in Ile-Ife. Children aged between 0 and 18 months appeared most susceptible in both centres. A higher incidence of ETEC occurred among the male (31.9%) than female (17.0%) subjects at Ibadan but no such difference was obtained at Ile-Ife where 12.5% of males and 11.4% of female subjects were infected. The results obtained in this study suggest ETEC played a prominent role in infantile diarrhoea in the two centres studied.