New approaches for severity intervention and rapid diagnosis of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli: a review

EnterohemorrhagicEscherichia coli(EHEC) are important pathogenicE. colicharacterized by theproduction of Shiga toxin, intimin, and enterohemolysin, which are important virulence factors forpathogenesis. These virulence factors are the cause of enterocyte extinction and affect both intesti-nal cells and various extraintestinal cells such as lymphocytes, granulocytes, erythrocytes, and renalcells. The resultant severe bloody diarrhea and colonic infections are associated with life-threateningextraintestinal complications, leading to high morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although EHEChas been responsible for large outbreaks around the world, research into effective therapies to pre-vent and treat the infection in a timely manner and affordable diagnostic tests remains a challengedue to the complicated nature of the bacteria. This review addresses previous studies, the currentstatus, and prospects regarding the severity, treatment, and diagnosis of EHEC with a focus on a newfinding on the use of simple point of care diagnostic procedures.