Detection of a new serotype of Escherichia coli, E. coli O127: B8, associated with acute diarrhea in infants.

In 1927 Adam reported the association of certain fermentative types of Escherichia coli with diarrhea in infants. Goldschmidt (1933) made similar observations. Bray (1945) in England demonstrated the presence of a specific serologic "O" type, 0111, of E. coli in an epidemic of diarrhea among newborn infants and focused attention on E. coli as a possible etiologic agent. Subsequent studies were made in England by Giles and Sangster (1948); Giles, Sangster, and Smith (1949); Smith (1949); Taylor, Powell, and Wright (1949); Taylor and Charter (1952); Charter and Taylor (1952); Smith, Galloway, and Speirs (1950); Rogers (1951); Rogers and Koegler (1951); Alexander et al. (1952); Wright and Villanueva (1953); Wright and Roden (1953); and in Scotland by Shanks and Studzinski (1952) who demonstrated two serologic "O" types, 0111 and 055 according to the classification of Kauffmann. These two particular types of E. coli were found predominating in the stools of infants with epidemic diarrhea and were found infrequently in stool cultures from other infants. Similar findings have been made in Germany by Beeuwkes, Hodenpijl, and ten Seldam (1949); Braun (1950, 1951); Laurell et al. (1951); Krepler and Zischka (1952); Zischka (1952); Opitz (1952); and Hoster (1953); in France by Buttiaux et al. (1951) and Clement et al. (1953); in Denmark by aufmann and Dupont (1950) and Dupont (1951); in Jerusalem by DrimmerHerrnheiser and Olitzki (1951); in Australia by Williams (1951); in Israel by Rappaport and Henig (1952); in Mexico by Olarte and Varela (1952); and in Ceylon by Schmid and Velaudapillai (1952). In the United States, bacteriological and clinical studies with certain serotypes of E. coli associated with diarrhea in infants date