Occurrence of PCR diagnostic genes of enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) in a nested case-control study from adults with travelers\u27 diarrhea

Travelers\u27 diarrhea (TD) continues to be a recurring topic in international medicine and travel. Its public health impact relates to the global effect of movement of people. Time lost, drugs and possibility of developing irritable bowel syndrome are negative outcomes of the disease. We conducted a laboratory based experiment to investigate the occurrence of diagnostic genes, aatA, aggR and aaiC of EAEC in a nested case-control study from adults with TD that traveled to Mexico and Guatemala. EAEC isolates were first confirmed via Hep 2 cells. Pure colonies obtained and analysed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). The occurrence of SepA, a new serine protease was also examined in this sample group. Chi-square analysis showed aatA, aggR and aaiC were associated with diarrhoea with P-value \u3c0.0001. SepA wasn\u27t associated with diarrhea. P-value \u3c 0.532