Abstract
Objective: The presence of enterobacteria such as Escherichia coli in the vagina of normal women is not synonymous
with infection. However, vaginal E. coli may also cause symptomatic infections. We examined bacterial
virulenceproperties that may promote symptomatic female reproductive tract infections (RTI) and neonatal sepsis.Methods: E. coli isolated as the causative agent from cases of vaginitis (n = 50), tubo-ovarian abscess (n = 45) and
neonatal sepsis (n = 45) was examined for selected phenotypic and genetic virulence properties. Results were
compared with the frequency of the same properties among fecal E. coli not associated with disease.Results: A significantly greater proportion of infection E. coli exhibited D-mannose resistant hemagglutination
compared with fecal E. coli (p < 0.01). This adherence phenotype was associated with the presence of P fimbriae
(pap) genes which were also significantly more prevalent among isolates from all three infection sites (p < 0.01).
The majority of