Detection of Campylobacter jejuni/C.coli infection in patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome by serology and culture.

Abstract

Serum samples from 43 cases of Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS), 32 non-GBS neurology patients, and 35 healthy persons from a medical institute in Kerala, India, were tested for antibody levels against a Campylobacter jejuni strain Penner serotype 0:19 by agglutination and ELISA. Twenty-six percent of samples from GBS cases showed high antibody levels in all assays. Of 8 stool samples of new GBS cases examined by culture, 38% were positive for C. jejuni/C. col1. The results suggest that at least a quarter of GBS cases studied were associated with Campylobacter infection.