The Medical Significance of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Infections: An Overview

Shiga toxin (Stx)-producing Escherichia coli (STEC), also referred to as Verocytotoxin-producing E. coli (VTEC) (1 ), are causes of a major, potentially fatal, zoonotic food-borne illness whose clinical spectrum includes nonspecific diarrhea, hemorrhagic colitis, and the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) (2 –6 ). The occurrence of massive outbreaks of STEC infection, especially resulting from the most common serotype, O157:H7, and the risk of developing HUS, the leading cause of acute renal failure in children, make STEC infection a public health problem of serious concern (2 ,5 ,7 ). Up to 40% of the patients with HUS develop long-term renal dysfunction and about 3–5% of patients die during the acute phase of the disease (8 –11 ). There is no specific treatment for HUS, and vaccines to prevent the disease are not yet available. The purpose of this overview is to highlight the public health impact, epidemiology, and clinicopathological features of STEC infection.