The Prevalence And Distribution Of The Virulence Genes And She Island In Clinical Isolates From Henan Province

We studied the prevalence and distribution of the newly described 10 genes in clinical isolates from the Henan province, China. A total of 222 Shigella isolates obtained from hospitalized patients during2002, 2003,2005 were analysed. These isolates included diverse serotypes (including F1a,F2a,Fx,Fy etc.) wide variety of genotypes.Each isolate underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for detection of sat, ial, sen, setA, ipaH, ics,sigA,pic,iutA and icsA genes employing specific primers. We found the sat,sen,ipaH,icsP,iutA ,icsA gene in all S. flexneri isolates (222of222,100%). The ial gene was well distributed among all serotypes, its presence was at 99.1% (220of 222). Also, all S. flexneri isolates had the setA, sigA, pic gene,except 12 isolates.It was present in 96% (210 of 222).This study provides initial data on the prevalence and distribution of the sat,ial,sen,setA,ipaH,icsP,sigA,pic,iutA and icsA genes in a wide variety of Shigella isolated for 3 years in the Henan province, China.Our results suggest a greater prevalence of the 10 genes in S. flexneri isolates than previously thought. Meanwhile we studied the prevalence and distribution of the She virulence island in these clinical isolates, we didn't find She virulence island in 6 isolates. These results might help in future pathochip and vaccine designs.