Qualitative and quantitative analyses of pAA-positive bacteria in the paired initial and follow-up stool samples.

aHUS, hemolytic uremic syndrome; BD, bloody diarrhea; D, diarrhea without visible blood.b1, initial stool sample; 2, follow-up stool sample; the number in parenthesis indicates the time interval between collection of the initial and the follow-up stool sample.c+, the isolate contained all pAA-encoded virulence genes (aatA, aggR, aggC, aap, sepA) in PCR and harbored a 75-kb plasmid hybridizing with pCVD432, aggR, aggC, aap, and sepA probes. -, the isolate lacked all pAA-encoded virulence genes in PCR and lacked the 75-kb plasmid in plasmid profiling.d+, an amplicon of corresponding size was obtained from the whole stool culture harvested from ESBL agar in PCR with primers pCVD432/start and pCVD432/stop [30];-, no PCR amplicon from the whole stool culture was obtained with these primers.eDetermined by colony blot hybridization of stool cultures plated on ESBL agar with the pCVD432 probe and calculated from the total numbers of colonies grown on the plates.fPaired Student's t test (P