Frequency of Escherichia coli strains producing heat-labile toxin or heat-stable toxin or both in children with and without diarrhea in São Paulo.

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli strains were isolated from 32 (13.4%) of 245 children with diarrhea and from 11 (11.4%) of 96 children of the control group. Strains producing heat-labile toxin were found more frequently in normal children than in children with diarrhea. Strains producing heat-stable toxin and both heat-labile and heat-stable toxins were isolated only from children with diarrhea. Association of these strains with diarrhea was highly significant as shown by statistical analysis. The O:H types and the colonization factors of strains producing heat-stable toxin and both heat-labile and heat-stable toxins are presented.