Vibrio cholerae non-O1 as a causal pathogen in cholera patients in Yangon, Myanmar.

Vibrio cholerae non-Ol was studied in patients with rice watery diarrhoea admitted to the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Yangon. The study was conducted during 1993-1994 to determine the association of the pathogen with the disease. Altogether 771 rectal swabs were collected and examined. V. cholerae were isolated by the standard methods. The seasonal, age and sex distribution, serotyping and susceptibility of these isolates to antibiotics were investigated. V. cholerae were isolated from 233 (30.2%) samples. Among them, V. cholerae Ol were isolated from 117 (50%) samples and V. cholerae non-Ol from 116 (50%) samples. The seasonal, age and sex distribution was identical in both V. cholerae Ol and V. cholerae non-Ol groups. V. cholerae 0139 was isolated during February 1994. Thus V. cholerae non-Ol was also one of the causal pathogens of cholera, like V. cholerae Ol in this community.