A 2-year-old infant is brought to the emergency room with hemolytic uremic syndrome and thrombocytopenia. Which one of the following bacteria would most likely be isolated from a stool specimen?
Food poisoning with E. coli 0157/H7 causes hemorrhagic colitis; it is often seen after eating beef hamburgers. The same organism also causes a hemorrhagic uremic syndrome. The toxin, called Shiga-like toxin, can be demonstrated in Vero cells, but the cytotoxicity must be neutralized with specific antiserum. With the exception of sorbitol fermentation, there is nothing biochemically distinctive about these organisms.
Shigella
Salmonella
Aeromonas
E. coli 0157/H7
Bacteria