Yersinia enterocolitica gastroenteritis: a prospective study of clinical, bacteriologic, and epidemiologic features.

A prospective study was performed to estimate the frequency of gastroenteritis due to Yersinia enterocolitica in Montreal children and their families. Evidence of bacterial infection was correlated with clinical features and serologic responses. YE was isolated from the stools of 181 (index cases) of 6,364 children with gastroenteritis over a 15-month period; Salmonella was isolated from 280 and Shigella from 68.

Efficacy of cold enrichment techniques for recovery of Yersinia enterocolitica from human stools.

Stool specimens from children with gastroenteritis and their household contacts were cultured for Yersinia enterocolitica by direct plating onto routine laboratory media. These stools were also inoculated into phosphate-buffered saline and subcultured to the same media after 1 day or 3 weeks of incubation at 4 degrees C. Y.