ABSTRACT
The importance of Campylobacter jejuni in the etiology of acute diarrhea in humans was not recognized. One reason for this might be the unusual conditions necessary for optimal growth — microaerophilic milieu and 42°C. Although the bacteria are relatively easy to grow under these conditions, culture-negative cases of Campylobacter diarrhea do appear. In such cases, and in such not uncommon cases of nonen-terocolitis appearance as, for example, reactive arthritis, diagnostic serology should be useful. Techniques like direct agglutination, indirect hemagglutination, immunofluorescence, immunodiffusion, complement fixation, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay have been used for Campylobacter Jejuni antibody determination. In a special study of a waterborne outbreak of Campylobacter Jejuni diarrhea, an antibody response was registered in all cases of diarrhea when serum samples were obtained. The high incidence of diarrhea in chicken slaughterhouse workers, occurring only in the first weeks of their employment, and antibody levels that persist for years indicate an immunity to Campylobacter Jejuni.
