Escherichia coli enteritis historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Serge Korjian M.D., Yazan Daaboul, M.D.

Theodor Escherich, a German physician, was the first to grow cultures of E. coli in 1885. The first pathogenic E. coli strain described was enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). The infection was reported in 1945 following outbreaks of infant diarrhea in the United Kingdom.^[1]

• Theodor Escherich, a German physician, was the first to grow cultures of E. coli in 1885.
• Prior to reports of pathogenicity, all strains of E. coli were first thought to be part of the normal flora. The first pathogenic E. coli strain described was enteropathogenic E. coli (EPEC). The infection was reported in 1945 following outbreaks of infant diarrhea in the United Kingdom.^[1]
• The majority of advances in understanding the pathogenesis of enteropathogenic E. coli infection were made in the late 1970s / early 1980s.^[2]
• Subsequently, other pathogenic E. coli strains were described in the early 1980s: EHEC (enterohemorrhagic E. coli)then ETEC (enterotoxicogenic E. coli) and then followed by EIEC (enteroinvasive E. coli) and finally DAEC (diffusely adherent E. coli).^[2]