Monday, June 13, 2011

Bacterial cause of deadly diarrhea

E Coli bacteria is no longer a cause of death, however, in recent weeks in Germany, Escherichia coli (E coli) was reported to cause illness in more than 3,000 people in 14 countries and resulted in no fewer than 33 people died.

At first cucumber from Spain suspected as carriers of these bacteria. However, the German government investigation eventually identified sprouts (bean sprouts) produced an organic farming enterprise to be carriers of bacteria.

E coli is a bacterium that lives in human intestines. Therefore, this bacterium is used as an indicator of sanitary food products. That is, the presence of Ecoli can be used to indicate the existence of contacts with human waste that is used as an estimate to determine whether the pathogen test should be done

In addition to the E coli that is non pathogen, there are some groups that later revealed E coli can cause disease. Entero pathogenic E coli (EPEC), Ecoli entero invasive (EIEC) and entero oxigenic E coli(ETEC) are three groups of E coli associated with diarrheal disease in infants, like dysentery and diarrhea in travelers. In general, water is a carrier for E coli group. Specifically, the food is rarely associated. The presence of E coli in food is probably due to low sanitation.

Results of investigation mentioned, found strains of E coli had previously been found only once in 1975 from patients with bloody diarrhea. This bacterium was E coli O157: H7 are then grouped into new classes, namely Entero hemorrhagic E coli (EHEC).

Scientific studies about this bacterium conclude that EHEC has the ability to produce at least two types of Shiga toxin is also produced by the bacterium Shigella dysenteries. EHEC suspected have this toxin-coding genes via viruses. On this new bacteria strain have birth new toxin bacteria.