Table 2. Distribution of esp alleles among tEPEC and aEPEC strains and among diarrhoea and control samples.
| Genes | Allele | Diarrhoea [n (%)] (n = 90) | Control [n (%)] (n = 91) | tEPEC [n (%)] (n = 42) | aEPEC [n (%)] (n = 139) | All EPEC [n (%)] (n = 181) |
| espA alleles | espA-alpha | 24 (26.7) | 24 (26.4) | 5 (11.9) | 43 (30.9)* | 48 (26.1) |
| espA-beta | 30 (33.3) | 27 (29.7) | 15 (35.7) | 42 (30.2) | 57 (31.5) | |
| espA-beta2 | 33 (36.7) | 31 (34.1) | 22 (52.4) | 42 (30.2) | 64 (35.4) | |
| espA-gamma | 1 (1.1) | 7 (7.7) | 0 (0.0) | 8 (5.8) | 8 (4.4) | |
| Negative | 2 (2.2) | 2 (2.2) | 0 (0.0) | 4 (2.9) | 4 (2.2) | |
| espB alleles | espB-alpha | 26 (26.7) | 27 (29.7) | 17 (40.5) | 36 (25.9) | 53 (29.3) |
| espB-beta | 31 (34.4) | 21 (23.1) | 14 (33.3) | 38 (27.3) | 52 (28.7) | |
| espB-gamma | 8 (8.9) | 9 (9.9) | 2 (4.8) | 13 (9.4) | 15 (8.3) | |
| espB-alpha2 | 16 (17.8) | 25 (27.5) | 7 (16.7) | 34 (24.5) | 41 (22.7) | |
| espB-alpha3 | 5 (5.6) | 4 (4.4) | 1 (2.4) | 8 (5.8) | 9 (4.9) | |
| Negative | 6 (6.7) | 5 (5.5) | 1 (2.4) | 10 (7.2) | 11 (6.1) | |
| espD alleles | espD-alpha | 7 (7.8) | 12 (13.2) | 7 (16.7) | 12 (8.6) | 19 (10.5) |
| espD-beta | 38 (42.2) | 26 (28.6) | 19 (45.2) | 45 (32.4) | 64 (35.4) | |
| espD-gamma | 13 (14.4) | 15 (16.5) | 3 (7.1) | 25 (18.0) | 28 (15.5) | |
| espD-N1 | 18 (20) | 22 (24.2) | 4 (9.5) | 36 (25.9)* | 40 (22.1) | |
| Negative | 14 (15.6) | 18 (19.8) | 9 (21.4) | 21 (15.1) | 30 (16.6) | |
| tir alleles | tir-alpha | 18 (20) | 18 (19.8) | 14 (33.3)* | 22 (15.8) | 36 (19.9) |
| tir-beta | 33 (36.7) | 19 (20.9) | 13 (31.0) | 39 (28.1) | 52 (28.7) | |
| tir-gamma | 2 (2.2) | 5 (5.5) | 1 (2.4) | 6 (4.3) | 7 (3.9) | |
| tir-gamma2 | 21 (23.3) | 30 (33.0) | 6 (14.3) | 45 (32.4)* | 51 (28.2) | |
| tir-alpha2 | 8 (8.9) | 13 (14.3) | 7 (16.7) | 14 (10.1) | 21 (11.6) | |
| Negative | 8 (8.9) | 6 (6.6) | 1 (2.4) | 13 (9.4) | 14 (7.7) |
*
P<0.05 for the comparison of allele distribution between tEPEC and aEPEC.