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. 2012 Mar;18(3):477-9.
doi: 10.3201/eid1803.111358.

Laboratory practices and incidence of non-O157 shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections

Kathleen A Stigi  1 , J Kathryn Macdonald, Anthony A Tellez-Marfin, Kathryn H Lofy
Affiliations

Laboratory practices and incidence of non-O157 shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infections

Kathleen A Stigi et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2012 Mar.

Abstract

We surveyed laboratories in Washington State, USA, and found that increased use of Shiga toxin assays correlated with increased reported incidence of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections during 2005-2010. Despite increased assay use, only half of processed stool specimens underwent Shiga toxin testing during 2010, suggesting substantial underdetection of non-O157 STEC infections.

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Figure 1
Figure 1
Rate of reported O157 and non-O157 Shiga toxin (Stx)–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections and number of laboratories performing Stx testing by year, Washington State, USA, 2005–2010.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Routine clinical laboratory practice to detect Shiga toxin (Stx)–producing Escherichia coli (STEC) by proportion of laboratories (A) and proportion of annually processed stool specimens (B), Washington, USA, 2010. *One laboratory reported use of neither method but represented <0.02% of annually processed specimens.
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