High prevalence of antimicrobial drug-resistant diarrheagenic Escherichia coli in asymptomatic children living in an urban slum

SummaryPurposeThe aim of this study was to investigate the presence of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli and antibiotic resistance in asymptomatic school-age children living in an area with defective environmental sanitation, comparing with children registered at a private school, both in the city of Osasco, Brazil.MethodsSeventy-nine school-age children between 5 and 10 years living in a slum and 35 children who attended a private school of the same city were included in the study.ResultsDEC was found in 58% of the children living in the slum and in 17% of the control group (P = 0.001). Resistance to at least one antimicrobial drug was found in 65% of DEC strains; resistant to two or more antimicrobial drugs was found in 46% of strains.ConclusionThe high carriage status among the slum children point towards the widespread environment contamination in low socio-economic housing conditions, in conformance with the pediatric population at higher risk for developing DEC diarrhea.