A study on the clinical significance and sources of Escherichia coli in Tasmania

A review of the incidence of diarrhea in developing and developed countries was made giving an overview of the causal agents of diarrhoea in these regions and comparing aetiological agents and possibilities for transmission in these regions and in Tasmania. A wide range of diarrhoeal agents have been reported from developing countries, whereas in developed countries fewer diarrhoeal agents have been reported. Although diarrhoeal illness is a relatively minor problem in developed countries, diarrhoea is still common and a major problem in many developing countries. One of the common causal agents in the developed world are the aetiological agents of Travellers' Diarrhoea. ieenterotoxigenic Escherichiacoli (ETEC). enteroaggregative E. coil (EAggEC) and the causal agent of Haemorrhagic Colitis (HC) and Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome (HUS), enterohaemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC/VTEC). Due to technical reasons and the inconvenience of high costs, routine tests for these pathotypes of E. coil are not conducted and hence the situation arises whereby screening for the most important bacterial agents of diarrhoea in the developed countries is often not performed. E. coil pathotypes are found to be most commonly associated with water and food. ETEC and VTEC being commonly reported. Other important agents for diarrhoea include Clostridium difficile from cases of antibiotic associated diarrhoea and Yersiniu eruerocolitica. In Tasmania, invasive E. coil has been suggested as a possible cause of diarrhoeal infection. From the results it appears that VTEC is the commonest pathotype of E. coli in Tasmania