Prevalence of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli in patients with diarrhoea in Bangkok.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) were recovered from 17 of 82 patients (20.7%) with diarrhoea admitted to Bamrajnaradura Hospital. Six patients (7.3%) were infected with LT + ETEC, 6 patients (7.3%) with ST + ETEC, 2 patients (2.4%) with LT + ST + ETEC and 3 patients with mixed ETEC infection, two of them had LT + ST + and LT + and one had LT + and ST + ETEC infections. There was no significant differences between the age group and the positive isolation of ETEC. Only 33 of 63 isolates could be typed. Two of 4 patients with LT + ST + ETEC had 078 serotype. There was no correlation between enteroxigencity and enteropathogenicity as determined by the antisera used. Antibiotic sensitivity testing showed that 51.6% of ETEC isolates were resistant to ampicillin, chloramphenicol, streptomycin and tetracycline, and all ETEC were sensitive to gentamicin and cotrimoxazole.