Bacterial infections of the small intestine and colon

Abstract

The most noteworthy recent developments regarding infections of the intestinal tract have been the emergence of old bacterial foes in new guises. These developments include the identification of a new serotype of toxigenic Vibrio cholerae with the potential to cause epidemics, the recognition of novel varieties of diarrheagenic strains of Escherichia coli, and the emergence of Salmonella and Shigella species resistant to most clinically useful antibiotics. On the other hand, we are witnessing the onset of a new age of immunization based on genetically engineered vaccines which after a single oral dose will afford long-lived mucosal immunity to infection. These exciting discoveries have been ..