The problem of sending fecal specimens to a laboratory for the isolation of pathogenic escherichia coli in tropical countries

Abstract

DIARRI~A among infants is frequent in almost all tropical countries. In D jakarta, Indonesia, infantile gastroenteritis is often associated with the presence of pathogenic Escherichia coli in the feces. These bacteria are the most frequent cause of diarrhea among our newborn and young infants. Infections have been found to occur not only nosocomially, but also frequently at home. 1-4 It is possible that pathogenic E. coli is also a frequent cause of diarrhea in infants in other tropical countries. Complete serologic typing of pathogenic E. coli is an elaborate procedure which can be done in only a few centers in the world. Preliminary identification of the types, in which only the O antigen group is determined, is easier and less time consuming, but even this procedure cannot be carried out in many tropical areas. A simple and cheap method by which fecal samples could be sent to distant laboratories where preliminary or complete serologic typing of pathogenic E. coli can be carried out would