Question

A 18-year-old male present to the outpatient clinic for evaluation of diarrhea and abdominal discomfort. The patient noted mild abdominal discomfort and 3 watery bowel movements per day. Abdominal exam was notable for mild lower abdominal tenderness. Fecal exam demonstrated a greenish, watery stool, negative for occult blood.

Stool for fecal leukocytes was positive. The causative agent recovered from the feces was a slightly curved, gram-negative rod.

What is the probable etiological agent?

How is the organism cultivated?

How is the organism identified?

I was originally thinking of Campylobacter jejunii, but ruled it out due to the negative occult blood test.

Answer 1

1, Vibrio cholera is the causative agent. It is a gram-negative, curved shaped bacteria, that cause acute diarrheal disease. Fecal examination demonstrates greenish, watery stool with negative occult blood in the case of Vibrio cholera disease.
2, V.cholarea found in contaminated water and food. It often enters the body through the consumption of raw shellfish or travels to cholera developed countries. when a person consumes this food and water this bacteria produce toxin in the intestine and produces severe diarrhea.
3, Identification of V. cholera serogroup o1 or 0319 by the culture of a stool specimen is the best method to diagnose cholera. Cary Blair media is the best transport and selective thiosulfate-citrate-bile salt agar(TCBS) is helpful for identification. antimicrobial susceptibility testing and subgroup should not be followed for routine diagnosis.