Prevalence of Campylobacter Species in Diarrheal Samples of Children Less than 10 Years

Authors

  • Ghada N. Khalaf 1 , Thaanaa R. Abdulrahman²

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37506/ijfmt.v14i4.11869

Keywords:

Campylobacter jejuni, Campylobacter coli, hipO gene, asp gene, biofilm.

Abstract

Introduction: Campylobacter spp. is one of the most common causes of diarrheal diseases all over the
world, with a rapid acquisition of antibiotic resistance.
Objective: Detect the frequency of Campylobacter species in diarrheal stool of children under ten years by
conventional and molecular methods, and detect the bacterial ability to produce biofilm.
Methods: A total of 200 children presented with diarrhea had been enrolled in this study. Campylobacter
was isolated and diagnosed primarily by characteristic features on Gram stain, culture media, biochemical
tests, and tested against 13 antibiotics by disc diffusion method. The ability of biofilm production was
tested by crystal violet quantitative ELISA microtiter plate assays. Then Campylobacter spp was detected
by Multiplex PCR using species specific genes.
Result: The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was 17% by conventional methods and 15% by molecular
method. The results of antibiotic susceptibility test showed that, there is complete resistance (100%)
to cephalothin, ampicillin, and clindamycin for both species, full resistance (100%) to trimethoprimsulfamethoxazol and erythromycin by C.coli, and high resistance (92.3%) to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol
and erythromycin by C.jejuni, while the lowest resistance was to nalidixic acid and amikacin (7.7%) by
C.jejuni, and (12.5%) to tetracyclin, amoxicillin, amikacin, chloramphenicol, and ciprofloxacin by C.coli.
The frequency of biofilm production in all positive Skirrow’s culture was (35.29%) as 12 out of 34 positive
isolates, ranging from mild to severe biofilm formation. By PCR assay, 64.7 % (22 of 34) positive Skirrow’s
culture were also positive based on hipO gene specific for C.jejuni, while the prevalence of asp gene was
(23.5%).
Conclusion: The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. was 17% by conventional methods and 15% by molecular
methods, most of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates were MDR, and sensitive only to
limited number of antibiotics, many Campylobacter isolates produce biofilm, there was highly significant
correlation between hippurate hydrolysis results and molecular detection of Campylobacter spp. depending
on hipO and asp genes.

Author Biography

  • Ghada N. Khalaf 1 , Thaanaa R. Abdulrahman²

    1 Post graduate, B.Sc. Pathological and Medical Analysis, 2 Assist prof. Ph.D. Microbiology Department / College
    of Medicine/ AL-Nahrain University/Iraq

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Published

2020-10-29

How to Cite

Prevalence of Campylobacter Species in Diarrheal Samples of Children Less than 10 Years. (2020). Indian Journal of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, 14(4), 2146-2153. https://doi.org/10.37506/ijfmt.v14i4.11869