Neonatal diarrhea caused by Vibrio cholerae 0139 Bengal

InvasiveVibrio cholerae01 E1 Tor Inaba in a 3-day-old neonate: case report

A 3-day-old girl with invasive V. cholerae infection is described. Her mother had cholera in the perinatal period. Because of retracted nipples, she expressed milk and fed her infant by bottle. The infant died on the 2nd day of admission.

Isolation ofVibrio choleraefrom neonates admitted to an urban diarrhoeal diseases hospital in Bangladesh

BACKGROUND

Very little is known about Vibrio cholerae infection in neonates with diarrhoea.

AIM

The aim was to examine the frequency of enteropathogenic bacteria, especially Vibrio cholerae, in stool specimens from neonates with diarrhoea.

METHODS

We reviewed the hospital records of 240 neonates admitted with diarrhoea to the Dhaka Hospital of ICDDR,B: Centre for Health and Population Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh during January-December 2001. On admission, rectal swabs or stool specimens were plated directly onto taurocholate-tellurite-gelatin agar, Salmonella-Shigella agar and MacConkey's agar for culture of Vibrio cholerae, Shigella and Salmonella spp.

RESULTS

A single bacterial enteric pathogen was detected in 71 neonates, multiple pathogens in 12, and stool samples of 157 neonates revealed no pathogen. The identified enteropathogens were as follows: V. cholerae in 42 neonates, Shigella spp in 22, Salmonella spp in 8, Aeromonas spp in 9 and Hafnia alvei in 2.

CONCLUSION

V. cholerae is not uncommon in neonates presenting with diarrhoea in cholera-endemic countries.

Vibrio cholerae diarrhoea in a three-day-old breastfed neonate

A confirmed case of cholera in a 3-day-old neonate is being reported. Possible source of infection could be by holy water (Chamamrit) given to the baby, which is common ritual in India. Mother's milk has never been reported to transmit cholera, even though mother herself may be suffering from cholera. Contaminated water can transmit the disease as there is no maternally transmitted immunity.

Vibrio cholerae O1 serotype Ogawa in a neonate

In India, cholera is endemic and affects usually the 3 to 5-year-old age group. There have been occasional reports in the neonatal period with Vibrio cholerae O139 Bengal. We report here a case of Vibrio cholerae O1 diarrhea in a 2-day-old, breastfed male, who had been delivered in the hospital and developed severe dehydration.