Original Research

Heterogeneity of Campylobacter species isolated from serial stool specimens of Egyptian children using pulsed field gel electrophoresis

Atef M. El-Gendy, Momtaz O. Wasfy, Adel M. Mansour, Buhari T. Oyofo, Marwa M. Yousry, John D. Klena
African Journal of Laboratory Medicine | Vol 2, No 1 | a34 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/ajlm.v2i1.34 | © 2013 Atef M. El-Gendy, Momtaz O. Wasfy, Adel M. Mansour, Buhari T. Oyofo, Marwa M. Yousry, John D. Klena | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 02 April 2012 | Published: 26 July 2013

About the author(s)

Atef M. El-Gendy, United States Naval Medical Research, Egypt
Momtaz O. Wasfy, United States Naval Medical Research, Egypt
Adel M. Mansour,, Egypt
Buhari T. Oyofo, United States Naval Medical Research, Egypt
Marwa M. Yousry, Central Public Health Laboratories, Egypt
John D. Klena, United States Naval Medical Research and United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Egypt

Abstract

Background: The genus Campylobacter spp. is a common cause of human acute bacteria lenteritis and travellers’ diarrhoea worldwide.

Objective: To determine whether multiple serial isolations of Campylobacter spp., when obtained from a single child, represented the same or a different organism.

Methods: In a birth cohort study conducted in Egypt, numerous children showed serial isolations of Campylobacter spp. Of these, 13 children were selected from different households based on the successive isolation of six or more Campylobacter isolates from stool samples.

Results: Eighty isolates were recovered and identified as either Campylobacter coli (n = 25) or Campylobacter jejuni (n = 55). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) revealed the presence of 38 unique C. jejuni and 24 C. coli profiles at a similarity level of ≥ 90%. Although no seriallyidentical isolates were detected in six children, others demonstrated at least one identical couple of isolates; all identified serially between one to six weeks. Two children demonstrated > 80% similar couples of isolates that appeared seven months apart. PFGE could be a useful tool for differentiating reinfection, relapse and convalescent excretion phases.

Conclusion: Our data suggest that Campylobacter infection in children is a complex process; children are exposed to multiple species in endemic environments and strains of the same bacterium appear to be shed serially between one to six weeks after the first exposure. Isolates that persisted for longer periods were relatively less similar, as shown from the results of this study.


Keywords

Heterogeneity; Campylobacter spp.; serial stool specimens; Egyptian; children; pulsed field gel electrophoresis

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