Extraintestinal traits of pathogenicity and sequence type lineages in commensal Escherichia coli from adults and young children: genotypic and phenotypic profiles

A significant proportion of <i>E. coli</i> from adults compared to young children exhibited considerable virulence potential, which may enable them to function as endogenous pathogens. Our research highlights the significant accumulation of extraintestinal pathogenicity features in commensal <i>E. coli</i>, indicating the need to monitor genetic and phenotypic profiles in "silent" potential pathogens.