A 6-year-old previously healthy girl is brought to the office due to diarrhea and abdominal pain. She started having watery diarrhea after a barbeque dinner 4 days ago; her stools became grossly bloody 2 days later. Her mother also had similar symptoms. The patient's temperature is 37 C (98.7 F). The abdomen is soft with mild generalized tenderness. Stool culture is performed on sorbitol-MacConkey agar and reveals sorbitol-negative colonies with biochemical properties of Escherichia coli. Enzyme immunoassay detects a substance capable of inhibiting protein synthesis in human cells. The substance detected in this patient is most similar to the toxin produced by which of the following bacteria?

Question

A 6-year-old previously healthy girl is brought to the office due to diarrhea and abdominal pain.  She started having watery diarrhea after a barbeque dinner 4 days ago; her stools became grossly bloody 2 days later.  Her mother also had similar symptoms.  The patient's temperature is 37 C (98.7 F).  The abdomen is soft with mild generalized tenderness.  Stool culture is performed on sorbitol-MacConkey agar and reveals sorbitol-negative colonies with biochemical properties of Escherichia coli.  Enzyme immunoassay detects a substance capable of inhibiting protein synthesis in human cells.  The substance detected in this patient is most similar to the toxin produced by which of the following bacteria?

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Eductional Objective: Shiga-like toxins (Vero cytotoxins), produced by enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli, are nearly identical to the Shiga toxin produced by Shigella dysenteriae.  They inhibit the 60S ribosomal subunit in human cells, thereby blocking protein synthesis by preventing binding of tRNA.

A 6-Year-Old Previously Healthy Girl Is Brought to the Office