Skip to main content
Bulletin of the World Health Organization logoLink to Bulletin of the World Health Organization
. 1961;25(2):137–152.

Rapid presumptive identification of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in faecal smears by means of fluorescent antibody

1. Preparation and testing of reagents

Berenice M Thomason, William B Cherry, Betty R Davis, A Pomales-Lebrón
PMCID: PMC2555554  PMID: 13920838

Abstract

In outbreaks of infantile diarrhoea caused by enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, rapid detection of the etiological agent is essential for specific and adequate therapy. Fluorescent antibody techniques have proved advantageous for rapid identification of many microorganisms. The development of fluorescein-labelled antibodies specific for nine serogroups of E. coli and the testing of these reagents for specificity are described in this paper. Results of testing pure cultures of various Enterobacteriaceae as well as faecal specimens from cases of diarrhoea are reported. These data show excellent correlation between the fluorescent antibody technique and conventional serological methods for identifying enteropathogenic types of E. coli. The immunofluorescent technique is more rapid than the usual bacteriological and serological methods in that smears from faecal specimens can be stained directly with the labelled antibodies. Details of the procedures for carrying out the technique are given in annexes.

Full text

PDF

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. COHEN F., PAGE R. H., STULBERG C. S. Immunofluorescence in diagnostic bacteriology. III. The identification of enteropathogenic E. coli serotypes in fecal smears. Am J Dis Child. 1961 Jul;102:82–90. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. COHEN J. O., COWART G. S., CHERRY W. B. Antibodies against Staphylococcus aureus in nonimmunized rabbits. J Bacteriol. 1961 Jul;82:110–114. doi: 10.1128/jb.82.1.110-114.1961. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. CONROY E., UPDYKE E. L. Clarification of serum for storage in liquid or lyophile state. J Bacteriol. 1956 Aug;72(2):277–278. doi: 10.1128/jb.72.2.277-278.1956. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. COONS A. H. The diagnostic application of fluorescent antibodies. Schweiz Z Pathol Bakteriol. 1959;22:700–723. doi: 10.1159/000160655. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. EWING W. H. Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli serotypes. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1956 Aug 10;66(1):61–70. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1956.tb40103.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. GORNALL A. G., BARDAWILL C. J., DAVID M. M. Determination of serum proteins by means of the biuret reaction. J Biol Chem. 1949 Feb;177(2):751–766. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KAUFMAN L., CHERRY W. B. Technical factors affecting the preparation of fluorescent antibody reagents. J Immunol. 1961 Jul;87:72–79. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MARSHALL J. D., EVELAND W. C., SMITH C. W. Superiority of fluorescein isothiocyanate (Riggs) for fluorescent-antibody technic with a modification of its application. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1958 Aug-Sep;98(4):898–900. doi: 10.3181/00379727-98-24222. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. NELSON J. D., WHITAKER J. A. Diagnosis of enteropathogenic E. coli diarrhea by fluorescein-labeled antibodies. J Pediatr. 1960 Nov;57:684–688. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(60)80161-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. STULBERG C. S., ZUELZER W. W., NOLKE A. C., THOMPSON A. L. Escherichia coli O127:B8, a pathogenic strain causing infantile diarrhea. I. Epidemiology and bacteriology of a prolonged outbreak in a premature nursery. AMA Am J Dis Child. 1955 Aug;90(2):125–134. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1955.04030010127001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. THOMASON B. M., CHERRY W. B., EDWARDS P. R. Staining bacterial smears with fluorescent antibody. VI. Identification of Salmonellae in fecal specimens. J Bacteriol. 1959 Apr;77(4):478–486. doi: 10.1128/jb.77.4.478-486.1959. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. WHITAKER J., PAGE R. H., STULBERG C. S., ZUELZER W. W. Rapid identification of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli O127:B8 by the fluorescent antibody technique. AMA J Dis Child. 1958 Jan;95(1 Pt 1):1–8. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.1958.02060050003001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Bulletin of the World Health Organization are provided here courtesy of World Health Organization

RESOURCES