Volume 30, Number 1—January 2024
Research Letter
Shiga Toxin‒Producing Escherichia coli Diagnoses from Health Practitioners, Queensland, Australia
Ashish C. Shrestha
, Russell Stafford, Robert Bell, Amy V. Jennison, Rikki M.A. Graham, Emma Field, and Stephen B. Lambert
, Russell Stafford, Robert Bell, Amy V. Jennison, Rikki M.A. Graham, Emma Field, and Stephen B. Lambert
Table
Characteristics of 31 STEC cases diagnosed by the specialty pathology laboratory and other pathology laboratories, Queensland, Australia, 2020–2022*
| Characteristics | Specialty pathology laboratory |
Other pathology laboratories |
p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Value | % (95% CI) | Value | % (95% CI) | |||
| Sex, no. (%) | ||||||
| M | 6 | 19 (9–38) | 37/65 | 57 (44–69) | 0.001 |
|
| F |
25 |
81 (62–91) |
28/65 |
43 (31–55) |
||
| Median age, y (range) |
35 (1–65) |
31 (<1–90) |
||||
| Clinical manifestation | ||||||
| Symptomatic† | 16/29 (55) | 36–73 | 56/64 | 88 (77–94) | 0.001 | |
| Bloody diarrhea | 1/29 (3) | 0–22 | 37/64 | 58 (45–69) | <0.001 | |
| HUS (% of all cases) | 0 | 0 | 9/64 | 14 (7–25) | 0.024 | |
| Hospitalized | 0 | 0 | 27/62 | 4 (32–56) | <0.001 | |
| Household contacts‡ |
0 |
0 |
6/65 |
9 (4–19) |
0.174 |
|
| Laboratory culture positive |
20/30 |
67 (47–83) |
27/65 |
42 (29–54) |
0.023 |
|
| stx genes | ||||||
| stx1 positive, stx2 negative | 6/26 | 23 (9–44) | 14/65 | 22 (12–33) | 0.873 | |
| stx2 positive, stx1 negative | 9/26 | 35 (17–56) | 33/65 | 51 (38–63) | 0.059 | |
| stx1 positive, stx2 positive |
11/26 |
42 (23–63) |
18/65 |
28 (17–40) |
0.176 |
|
| eaeA (intimin) positive | 1/5 | 20 (1–72) | 20/39 | 51 (35–68) | 0.348 | |
| ehxA (enterohemolysin) positive |
4/4 |
100 (40–100) |
26/36 |
72 (55–86) |
0.558 |
|
| Serotypes known to cause severe disease | ||||||
| O111 | 1/20 | 5 (1–25) | 2/28 | 7 (1–24) | 0.762 | |
| O157 | 0 | 0 | 6/28 | 21 (8–41) | 0.034 | |
| O26 | 0 | 0 | 2/28 | 7 (1–24) | 0.504 | |
| O145 | 0 | 0 | 2/28 | 7 (1–24) | 0.504 | |
*Values are no. cases or no. positive/no. tested except as indicated. Denominators reflect total cases where the relevant field was completed. HUS, hemolytic uremic syndrome; STEC, Shiga toxin‒producing Escherichia coli.†Gastrointestinal symptoms. ‡Includes contacts of a case and are cases of the study population.
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Page updated: December 20, 2023
Page reviewed: December 20, 2023
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