Detection of 13 Enteric Bacteria and 5 Viruses Causing Acute Infectious Diarrhea Using Multiplex PCR from Direct Stool Specimens

Abstract

Background: We investigated the prevalence of various pathogens (13 enteric bacteria and 5 viruses) which cause diarrhea using multiplex PCR of stool specimens and compared two multiplex PCR methods for detecting diarrheagenic Escherichia coli. Methods: A total of 405 stool specimens submitted between November 2010 to February 2011 for routine culture of enteric pathogens were included and screened for five viruses (astrovirus, Group A rotavirus, enteric adenovirus, norovirus G1/G2) and eight bacteria (Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Campylobacter spp., Vibrio spp., C. difficile Toxin B, C. perfringens, Y. enterolytica, Aeromonas spp.) using the Seeplex