Copyright © 1992, American Society for Microbiology Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli Associated with

A clinicoepidemiological study was undertaken to determine if enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) was associated with hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) in children in Santiago, Valdivia, and Temuco, Chile. Prospective surveillance detected 20 hospitalized cases ofHUS in children less than 4 years of age in these cities from March 1988 to March 1989. Each HUS patient was matched (by sex and age) with two control children (hospitalized elective-surgery patients). To detect EHEC, DNA from stool culture isolates of E. coli was detected by hybridization with biotin-labelled DNA probes specific for the EHEC virulence plasmid, Shiga-like toxin I (SLT-I) or SLT-H. Stool cultures from 6 of 20 cases (301%) and from 2 of 38 controls (5.3%) yielded EHEC (P = 0.0158). EHEC isolates from all HUS cases hybridized with the EHEC plasmid probe and with probes for SLT-I or-II (or both). The serogroups of the isolates included 0157, 026, and 0111. EHEC causes HUS in Chile, and the biotinylated gene probes are practical diagnostic tools for epidemiologic studies. Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), which is character-ized by acute renal insufficiency, microangiopathic hemo-lytic anemia, and thrombocytopenia (5, 7-10), constitutes an important clinical problem in pediatric populations in Chile