Factors in the emergence of serious human infections associated with highly pathogenic strains of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli

International Journal of Medical Microbiology : IJMM
Mohamed A Karmali

Abstract

The appearance of highly pathogenic strains of Shiga toxin (Stx)-producingEscherichia. coli (STEC) has owed largely to the acquisition of Stx-encoding prophages by strains of E. coli that have pre-existing potential as enteric pathogens, such as atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (aEPEC) and enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC). However, while high pathogenic potential is necessary, it is not sufficient for such strains to have a serious public health impact (i.e., large outbreaks, many cases of HUS, or both). To do so requires susceptible hosts and additional elements related to transmission, such as, socio-economic, societal, and lifestyle, factors. Two examples are discussed to illustrate this. The factors involved in the emergence of serious disease associated with E. coli O157:H7 in the 1980s probably included a massive increase in population exposure to this pathogen, likely as a result of the introduction of factory farming of cattle in the 1960s, and the development and wide patronage of fast food hamburger restaurants, and, potentially, waning immunity to intimin as a result of the reduction of incidence of enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC) infection. In the devastating outbreak of Stx2-positiveEAEC O104:H4 in 2011, the wide ...Continue Reading

Citations

Dec 10, 2019·Clinical Infectious Diseases : an Official Publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America·Lyndsay BottichioLaura Gieraltowski
Oct 19, 2019·Sensors·Sandeep KumarAjeet Kaushik
Sep 26, 2020·Frontiers in Molecular Biosciences·Katarzyna KozłowskaGrzegorz Węgrzyn
Jul 28, 2019·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Shingo NakamuraMasayuki Ishihara
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May 6, 2020·International Journal of Molecular Sciences·Shingo NakamuraMasayuki Ishihara
Nov 13, 2020·Emerging Microbes & Infections·Ying HuaAndreas Matussek
May 22, 2021·Frontiers in Microbiology·Grzegorz Węgrzyn, Maite Muniesa

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