Enterotoxigenic Escherichia-coli-associated diarrheal disease in Apache children.

A search for intestinal enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli was made in 59 Apache children hospitalized with 64 episodes of acute diarrhea. Esch. coli isolates from acute-phase and convalescent-phase specimens of small-bowel fluid and stool were tested in three currently recognized models: the adult-rabbit ileal loop; infant rabbit; and the adrenal-cell assay. Enterotoxigenic strains were isolated from 10 children during acute diarrheal episodes (16 per cent); none were isolated from convalescent-phase specimens. None of 64 "enteropathogenic" serotypes of Esch. coli from 43 children with diarrhea, however, caused fluid production in the ileal-loop model. These results suggest that enterotoxigenic Esch. coli may be the cause of considerable diarrhea in this population and that the term "enteropathogenic" as applied to serotypes of Esch. coli needs to be redefined.