Clinical Characteristics and Serotype Distribution of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli Isolated from Diarrhoeic Patients in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

Clinical characteristics and serotype distribution of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from paediatric diarrhoeic patients over a three-year period in two geographically diverse areas, Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Cape Town, South Africa, were compared. Both Dhaka and Cape Town patients had similar rates of diarrhoea, vomiting and fever. However, the Dhaka patients were younger (11.8 vs. 13.0 months), had more boys than girls infected (male/female ratio 1.78:1 vs. 1.25:1), had more predisposing conditions (26% vs. 15%) and had more additional stool pathogens co-isolated with C. jejuni/coli than the Cape Town patients. While some C. jejuni serotypes were common to both areas, i.e., O:4, other serotypes were present in one location, but not the other. Differences in clinical presentations and serotype distribution in Dhaka and Cape Town are suggestive of different reservoirs for Campylobacter, and different patterns of infection.