Surveillance of Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coliassociated bloody diarrhea in Argentina

•A prospective study on STEC-bloody diarrhea was performed in Argentina between October 2018 and June 2019.•Twenty-nine (4.1%) of 714 bloody diarrhea patients aged 1-9 years were STEC-positive.•Four (13.8%) bloody diarrhea cases progressed to HUS 3 to 9 days after diarrhea onset.•The most common serotypes among BD and HUS cases were O157:H7 and O145:H28.•The prevalent genotypes among BD and HUS cases were stx2a-only or -associated.