Typical and atypical enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in children with acute diarrhoea: Changing trend in East Delhi.

Abstract Background Worldwide around 2 million deaths occur every year due to diarrhoeal illnesses among children less than 5 years of age. Among diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli, Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is highly prevalent in both community and hospital settings and is one of the main causes of persistent diarrhea in children in developing countries. EPEC remains underdiagnosed in India due to lack of conventional tool for identification. Materials and Methods We in this study investigated the prevalence and regional variation of EPEC in paediatric population suffering from diarrhoea in East Delhi, India. Two hundred stool samples were collected from children, aged between 0.5 to 5 years, with acute diarrhoea. Escherichia coli were identified by conventional tests and PCR. Results We observed 7% atypical EPEC (aEPEC) and 2.5% typical EPEC (tEPEC), with an overall 9.5% EPEC prevalence amongst total samples. Escherichia coli phylogenetic group A was the predominant. The most common age group affected was 6 to 23 months with common symptoms being vomiting, watery diarrhoea and severe dehydration. High drug resistance pattern was observed in EPEC isolates. Conclusion The study depicts a changing trend of aEPEC over tEPEC in children less than 5 years with diarrhoea, an emerging drug resistant enteropathogen and a public health concern demanding monitoring and surveillance.