Prevalence of Campylobacter spp. isolated from non- diarrheal children in Bangkok

Abstract

Campylobacter spp. can cause food borne diarrheal illness and have been recognized as an important cause of morbidity and mortality among children in developing countries. It has been known that healthy individuals harboring Campylobacter spp. may serve as carrier. We investigated the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in feces of a total of 340 healthy non-diarrheal children in Bangkok. Using conventional culture method, 12 isolates (3.5 %) of Campylobacter spp. were obtained from 340 samples (one from each child). Species identification by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometer revealed that 7 isolates (2.0 %) were C. jejuni and 5 isolates (1.5 %) were C. coli. This finding suggested that healthy children may serve as carrier of Campylobacter spp.