Modulation of Acute Diarrheal Illness by Persistent Bacterial Infection.

Acute diarrhoeal illness is a global health problem that may be exacerbated by concurrent infection. Using Citrobacter rodentium, a murine model of attaching and effacing diarrheagenic Escherichia coli, the researchers demonstrated that persistent Helicobacter hepaticus infection modulates host responses to diarrhoeal disease, resulting in delayed recovery from weight loss and from tissue damage. This model of polymicrobial infection provides insight into the mechanism by which subclinical infection can exacerbate morbidity due to an unrelated self-limiting infection. Infection and Immunity. 2008;76(11):4851-8.