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Epidemic cholera in Ecuador: multidrug–resistance and transmission by water and seafood

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

J. T. Weber
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
E. D. Mintz
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
R. Cañizares
Affiliation:
Subsecretariat for Health, Zone II, Guayaquil, Ecuador
A. Semiglia
Affiliation:
Subsecretariat for Health, Zone II, Guayaquil, Ecuador
I. Gomez
Affiliation:
Subsecretariat for Health, Zone II, Guayaquil, Ecuador
R. Sempértegui
Affiliation:
Ministry of Health, Quito, Ecuador
A. Dávila
Affiliation:
National Institute of Hygiene, Guayaquil, Ecuador
K. D. Greene
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
N. D. Puhr
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
D. N. Cameron
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
F. C. Tenover
Affiliation:
Nosocomial Pathogens Laboratory Branch, Hospital Infections Program, NCID, CDC
T. J. Barrett
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
N. H. Bean
Affiliation:
Biostatistics and Information Management Branch, DBMD, NCID, CDC
C. Ivey
Affiliation:
Biostatistics and Information Management Branch, DBMD, NCID, CDC
R. V. Tauxe
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
P. A. Blake
Affiliation:
Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases (DBMD), National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia 30333
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Summary

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To determine risk factors for cholera in an epidemic-disease area in South America, a case–control investigation was performed in Guayaquil, Ecuador, in July 1991. Residents > 5 years old who were hospitalized for treatment of acute, watery diarrhoea and two matched controls for each were interviewed regarding sources of water and food, and eating, drinking, and hygienic habits. Interviewers inspected homes of case-patients and controls to document water treatment, food-handling, and hygienic practices. Faecal specimens and shellfish were cultured for Vibrio cholerae O 1. Isolates were tested for susceptibility to a variety of antimicrobial agents. Drinking unboiled water (odds ratio [OR] = 4.0, confidence interval [CI] = 1.8–7.5), drinking a beverage from a street vendor (OR = 2.8, CI = 1.3–5.9), eating raw seafood (OR = 3.4, CI = 1.4–11.5), and eating cooked crab (OR = 5.1, CI = 1.4–19.2) were associated with illness. Always boiling drinking water at home (OR = 0.5, CI = 0.2–0.9) was protective against illness. The presence of soap in either the kitchen (OR = 0.3, CI = 0.2–0.8) or bathroom (OR = 0.4, CI = 0.2–0.9) at home was also protective. V. cholerae O 1 was recovered from a pooled sample of a bivalve mollusc and from 68% of stool samples from case-patients. Thirty-six percent of the isolates from stool specimens were resistant to multiple antimicrobial agents. Specific prevention measures may prevent transmission through these vehicles in the future. The appearance of antimicrobial resistance suggests the need for changes in current methods of prevention and treatment.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1994

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