DEMONSTRATION OF ANTIBODIES AGAINST ENTEROPATHOGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI IN SERA OF CHILDREN OF VARIOUS AGES

Abstract

A study on the presence of Escherichia coli 0111, 055, and 026 hemagglutinins and agglutinins in the sera of children and adults selected at random yielded the following results. The E. coli hemagglutination test proved to be far more sensitive for the detection of these antibodies than the conventional bacterial agglutination test. A relationship was found to exist between the presence of E. coli hemagglutinins and the age of the individuals; these antibodies were found in over 90 per cent of human sera selected at random from individuals 12 years of age and older, and less than 14 per cent of sera from infants up to the age of 3 months. Placental transfer of E. coli hemagglutinins was demonstrated in only 3 out of 26 cases, and in these instances the maternal antibody titers were from 4 to 16 times higher than those of the cord blood. These E. coli hemagglutinins were demonstrated also with red blood cells modified with purified lipopolysaccharides, indicating that they react with the somatic antigens of these serogroups of E. coli. The specificity of the hemagglutinins was established by absorption tests, utilizing red blood cells modified by one or the other of the lipopolysaccharides. E. coli 0111, 055, and 026 hemagglutinins were demonstrated in 2 commercial gamma globulin preparations, indicating that these antibodies are not restricted to a population in a small geographical area. The potential diagnostic usefulness of the E. coli hemagglutination test deserves further investigation.