What Is Escherichia Coli?

Escherichia coli is an indispensable single-celled organism. Escherichia coli, commonly known as Escherichia coli (Gram-negative Brevibacterium), has flagella throughout, can move, and has no buds. It is a normal resident bacteria in the intestines of humans and animals. One of the pathogenic substances of Escherichia coli is plasma coagulase. According to the different pathogenicity, the diarrhea-producing Escherichia coli is classified into enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, intestinal invasive Escherichia coli, intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, and intestinal aggregation adhesion There are 5 types of Escherichia coli and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli, commonly known as Escherichia coli (Gram-negative Brevibacterium), has flagella throughout, can move, and has no buds. It is a normal resident bacteria in the intestines of humans and animals. One of the pathogenic substances of Escherichia coli is plasma coagulase. According to the different pathogenicity, the diarrhea-producing Escherichia coli is classified into enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, intestinal invasive Escherichia coli, intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli, and intestinal aggregation adhesion There are 5 types of Escherichia coli and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Some strains of Escherichia are related to infant diarrhea and can cause outbreaks of diarrhea or food poisoning in adults. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli O157: H7 was the culprit leading to the outbreak of food poisoning in Japan in 1996. It is a pathogenic serotype in hemorrhagic Escherichia coli and mainly invades the distal small intestine and colon. Common poisoning foods are various cooked meat products, cold meats, beef, raw milk, followed by eggs and egg products,

The symptoms of poisoning caused by different diarrheal Escherichia coli are different. The main symptoms of poisoning caused by enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli are watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea, and low fever. Diarrhea can reach 8 to 12 times a day. The symptoms of intestinal invasive coliform poisoning are similar to dysentery caused by Shigella, with fever, severe abdominal pain, watery diarrhea, and a small amount of mucus and blood in the stool. The main symptoms of intoxication caused by intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli are fever, discomfort, vomiting, diarrhea, and a large amount of mucus in the stool but no blood. About 20% of patients have respiratory symptoms, and the symptoms of infection are usually more serious. The symptoms of poisoning caused by intestinal agglutinating adhesive Escherichia coli are moderate diarrhea in adults with a course of 1-2 days. Most infants and young children have persistent diarrhea over 2 weeks. Poisoning caused by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, usually onset within 3 to 10 days, often with sudden abdominal cramps, sometimes similar to the pain of appendicitis. Some patients have only mild diarrhea; some patients change from watery stools to bloody diarrhea. The number of diarrhea can sometimes reach more than 10 times with low or no fever. Many patients have respiratory symptoms at the same time. Can develop into multiple organ damage such as hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura. Elderly and child patients have high mortality rates. ^[1]

Eliminate poisons, and induce vomiting, gastric lavage and catharsis if necessary; symptomatic treatment; antibiotic treatment, chloramphenicol, polymyxin, gentamicin, kanamycin are preferred. For patients with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli infection, antibiotics should be used with caution, because antibiotics not only can not shorten the course of disease, but will increase the chance of developing hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Do not eat raw or underheated animal foods such as milk and meat. Do not eat unclean fruits and vegetables. Heat the remaining meals thoroughly before eating. Prevent cross contamination of raw and cooked food. Develop good personal hygiene and wash your hands before and after meals. Food processing and production enterprises, especially the catering industry, should strictly guarantee the safety of food processing, transportation and sales. ^[1]