What are Verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli (VTEC)?
Verocytotoxin producing Escherichia coli [VTEC] are bacteria responsible for a range of illnesses in humans from mild diarrhoea to severe colitis. They are so called because of a distinguishing laboratory test using Vero cells. There are a number of different VTEC bacteria, the commonest one responsible for human disease in the United Kingdom being E. coli 0157. Laboratory isolations of E. coli 0157 in the United Kingdom have risen steadily from less than 10 each year in the early 1980s to 656 in 1994 and 1,039 in 1995. At present most of these infections are diagnosed in children under 5 years of age and the majority of cases occur in the summer and early autumn. However, the true incidence of this infection is probably much higher as many patients with diarrhoea do not have laboratory investigations and at present not every Microbiology laboratory will look for this bacterium routinely in all faeces samples.
