Characterization of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli strains isolated in the region of Nis, Serbia.

INTRODUCTION: Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli represent one of the main causes of bacterial diarrhoea in humans. Although the disease is usually mild and self-limiting, severe chronic sequelae may occur, such as reactive arthritis, Guillain-Barré and Miller Fisher syndromes. Serotyping is used as an epidemiological marker, while post-infective polyneuropathies are associated with several O serotypes. OBJECTIVE: Strains of C. jejuni and C. coli were serotyped based on heat stable (HS) and heat labile (HL) antigens, as well as biotypes to determine strain diversity. METHODS: Campylobacter spp. was isolated using selective blood media with antibiotics. Differentiation to the species level was done by a combination of biotyping tests and by a PCR-based RFLP test. The isolates were characterised by Penner and Lior serotyping methods. RESULTS: The serotypes showed diversity without predominant serotypes. 24 HS serotypes were detected among 29 C. jejuni strains, and seven serotypes among nine C. coli strains. HL serotyping method successfully typed 62.5% of strains. Among 16 C.jejuni strains 14 serotypes were detected, and three among four C. coli strains. A C.jejuni strain associated with a patient with Guillain-Barré syndrome was typed as biotype II, O:19. CONCLUSION: The biotyping and serotyping results have indicated that C. jejuni and C. coli strains in the region of Nis, Serbia are diverse and could be probably of unrelated sources of origin or reservoirs. The strain associated with the Guillain-Barré syndrome patient was serotype O:19, one of the most common in this post-infective complication.

Campylobacter infection as a trigger for Guillain-Barré syndrome in Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Most studies of Campylobacter infection triggering Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) are conducted in western nations were Campylobacter infection and immunity is relatively rare. In this study, we explored Campylobacter infections, Campylobacter serotypes, autoantibodies to gangliosides, and GBS in Egypt, a country where Campylobacter exposure is common. METHODS: GBS cases (n = 133) were compared to age- and hospital-matched patient controls (n = 374). A nerve conduction study was performed on cases and a clinical history, serum sample, and stool specimen obtained for all subjects. RESULTS: Most (63.3%) cases were demyelinating type; median age four years. Cases were more likely than controls to have diarrhea (29.5% vs. 22.5%, Adjusted Odds Ratio (ORa) = 1.69, P = 0.03), to have higher geometric mean IgM anti-Campylobacter antibody titers (8.18 vs. 7.25 P<0.001), and to produce antiganglioside antibodies (e.g., anti-Gd1a, 35.3 vs. 11.5, ORa = 4.39, P<0.0001). Of 26 Penner:Lior Campylobacter serotypes isolated, only one (41:27, C. jejuni, P = 0.02) was associated with GBS. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike results from western nations, data suggested that GBS cases were primarily in the young and cases and many controls had a history of infection to a variety of Campylobacter serotypes. Still, the higher rates of diarrhea and greater antibody production against Campylobacter and gangliosides in GBS patients were consistent with findings from western countries.

Risk factors associated with Campylobacter jejuni infections in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.

A steady increase in the incidence of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) with a seasonal preponderance, almost exclusively related to Campylobacter jejuni, and a rise in the incidence of laboratory-confirmed Campylobacter enteritis have been reported from Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. We therefore investigated possible risk factors associated with diarrhea due to epidemic C. jejuni. Typing by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis identified four epidemic clones which accounted for almost 60% of the infections. One hundred six cases were included in a case-control study. Infections with epidemic clones were more frequently observed in specific districts in Willemstad, the capital of Curaçao. One of these clones caused infections during the rainy season only and was associated with the presence of a deep well around the house. Two out of three GBS-related C. jejuni isolates belonged to an epidemic clone. The observations presented point toward water as a possible source of Campylobacter infections.

Campylobacter transmission in a Peruvian shantytown: a longitudinal study using strain typing of campylobacter isolates from chickens and humans in household clusters.

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of pediatric diarrhea in developing countries-free-ranging chickens are presumed to be a common source. Campylobacter strains from monthly surveillance and diarrhea cases were compared by means of restriction-fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), rapid amplified polymorphic DNA, and Lior serotyping. RFLP analysis of 156 human and 682 avian strains demonstrated identical strains in chickens and humans in 29 (70.7%) of 41 families, and 35%-39% of human isolates from diarrhea and nondiarrhea cases were identical to a household chicken isolate. Isolation of the same RFLP type from a household chicken and a human within 1 month was highly protective against diarrhea (odds ratio, 0.07; P<.005). Campylobacter strains from symptomatic humans were unlikely to be identical to strains recently carried by household chickens, limiting the potential benefits from household-based control measures.