Evaluation of 5'-nuclease and hybridization probe assays for the detection of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli in human stools.

5'-Nuclease and a hybridization probe assays for the detection of shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli were validated with regard to selectivity, analytical sensitivity, reproducibility and clinical performance. Both assays were capable of detecting the classical stx(1) and stx(2) genes when challenged with reference strains of E. coli (n=40), although 1 to 4 minority sequence variants, whose clinical relevance is limited (stx(1c), stx(1d), and stx(2f)), were detected less efficiently or not at all by one or both assays.