[Enteritis due to Escherichia coli O142 K86 H34 in a ward of premature infants. With a discussion on the problem of pathogenicity of "enteropathogenic serogroups of E. coli" (author's transl)].

E. coli O142 K86 H34 has been isolated from stool specimens of five babies in a ward of premature infants. Diarrheal stools were observed in two of them; one infant temporarily failed to gain weight, and the other developed a temporary loss of weight. Smooth stools observed in the third baby as well as asymptomatic infections in two others did not affect their normal development. The outbreak lasted 15 days; the source of infection and the mode of transmission remained unknown. The pathogenesis and importance of human diarrheal disease caused by E. coli is reviewed. Enteritis of adults and children due to enteroinvasive (EIEC) and enterotoxigenic (ETEC) strains is described. The etiological role of so-called "enteropathogenic E. coli" (EPEC), rejected increasingly during the past decade, has been demonstrated again in recent studies. Routine search for EPEC is suggested in cases of infantile enteritis in hospitals and other institutions.