DETECTION OF THE VIRULENCE GENES OF DIARRHEAGENIC E. COLI BY 16-PLEX PCR FROM CHILDREN WITH DIARRHOEA IN OUAGADOUGOU, BURKINA FASO

Haoua Cissé , Assèta Kagambèga*, Ali Konaté, Réné Dembélé, Soutongnooma Caroline Bouda, Amy Gassama-Sow, Nicolas Barro

ABSTRACT

Diarrheal diseases are an important public health and economic problem worldwide, especially in Burkina Faso. This prospective study aims to determine the prevalence of major diarrheagenic Escherichia coli (DEC) pathotypes in stool samples from patients suffering from diarrheal diseases in four hospitals in Ouagadougou. After obtaining the informed consent, a total of 415 stool samples were collected from patients and Escherichia coli strains were identified using standard microbiological methods. We have used 16-plex PCR, which permit the identification of five different categories of diarrheagenic E. coli such as enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), enteroinvasive E. coli (EIEC), shigatoxigenic E. coli (STEC), enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC), and enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) in a single reaction simultaneously. From the 292 strains, 23 (8%) were positive for DEC virulence genes with 12 (4%) samples being positive for EAEC, 5 (2%) for EPEC, 3 (1%) for EHEC, 2 (˂ 1%) for EIEC and 1 (˂ 1%) for ETEC. The children under 5 years old were most affected (74%). However, EAEC is the predominant DEC isolated from the examined patients with diarrhoea. This study indicated that the five major DEC pathotypes continuous to be a principal cause of diarrhoea in Burkina Faso. The present results will contribute to highlight the need of a surveillance program to reduce DEC prevalence in hospitals in this country.

Keywords: Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, 16-plex PCR, diarrhea, patients.