Preliminary study on the prevalence of Campylobacter in childhood diarrhoea in north Lebanon

Campylobacter species are a major cause of human diarrhoeal disease worldwide. In Lebanon, the true prevalence of Campylobacter infections and the species distribution in childhood diarrhoea are not known. This study in 2010 investigated the prevalence of Campylobacter species and its possible etiologic role in childhood diarrhoea in north Lebanon. A total of 90 stool samples from children [aged 1 month to 10 years] presenting with diarrhoea were collected from 5 hospitals. A polymerase chain reaction technique [PCR] was used for each sample for the amplification of all Campylobacter species followed by 5 PCR reactions for the amplification of C. jejuni, C. hyointestinalis, C. coli, C. fetusand C. upsaliensis. Of the 90 samples, 10 were positive for Campylobacter species [11.1%]: 1 for C .coli, 1 for C. jejuni, 2 for both C. jejuni and C. coli, and 6 could not be identified to the species level with the available primers. Campylobacter species is frequently associated with childhood diarrhoea in north Lebanon but Campylobacter infection may be significantly underdiagnosed because the search for Campylobacteria not part of the routine stool culture

Acridine orange staining and viability of the coccoid form of Campylobacter upsaliensis.

Conversion of Campylobacter upsaliensis to the coccoid form during aerobic incubation at 37 degrees C was not prevented by treatment with chloramphenicol and was accompanied by severe decreases in isocitrate dehydrogenase activity and oxygen uptake. Although the coccoid forms fluoresced orange-red by acridine orange staining, agarose gel electrophoresis indicated an extensive degradation of the ribosomal RNA. This suggests that acridine orange staining may not be a good indicator of viability and that the coccoid form of C. upsaliensis at 37 degrees C is degenerative rather than part of the life cycle.

A Case of Campylobacter upsaliensis Bacteremia / 대한진단검사의학회지

Campylobacter species are gram-negative, curved or spiral bacteria. Campylobacter upsaliensis is a recently recognized human enteric pathogen associated with enteritis, colitis, bacteremia, and sepsis. This organism is very rarely isolated in clinical laboratories and therefore is little known among clinicians. We isolated C. upsaliensis from a blood culture in a 62-year-old male patient with alcoholic liver cirrhosis and acute pancreatitis, using various phenotypic tests and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment-length polymorphism analysis. The patient was treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics and recovered fully. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of C. upsaliensis bacteremia in Korea.