Defective Products

Child dies from E. coli complications

A young Vancouver-area boy has died as the result of an E. coli outbreak that hospitalized three other children.

Those three children are now out of the hospital, said Dr. Alan Melnick, Clark County health officer, on Friday afternoon.

Officials did not release any additional personal information about any of the four children.

However, the children did attend the same Vancouver day care provider, and seven other people who attended the site or worked there have tested positive for the bacteria. The center in Hazel Dell has been operated by Dianne and Larry Fletch for 20 years.

Melnick said the day care center was temporarily closed on April 2 while Clark County Public Health monitors the outbreak.

Twenty-two children attended the center, Melnick said.

The Fletches issued a statement late Friday afternoon expressing their sorrow:

“This is a very difficult time for the family who has suffered such an incredible loss.

“It is also a difficult time for our daycare families and the children who were his friends.

“It is an especially difficult time for us as daycare providers.

“We would like to tell the story of what happened, of how hard everyone worked to try and avert such a tragedy and how closely the public health department and our daycare licensing staff worked with us to identify the problem initially and to put into place measures to control the spread.

“However, at the moment, we are all grieving too deeply over our loss.”

— Fletch Family Daycare

While the day care center is a common element in the spread of the infection, investigators haven’t been able to identify the original source of the outbreak. It might remain a mystery, Melnick said: “In most cases, we never learn.”

The infection was spread from person to person, starting on about March 19.

When one meal or event is the source of an outbreak, people get sick at the same time, Melnick said.

Those tests identified E. coli O157:H7, which is the most common toxin-producing bacteria in North America, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The original source of an infection is often cattle manure, which can enter the body with undercooked hamburger or unpasteurized milk or fruit juices.

An infected person can transmit the infection to another person through human stool, when people don’t thoroughly wash their hands after using the toilet or after diapering a child.

Symptoms can take up to 10 days to appear. The symptoms often include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, says the CDC’s Web site. Most people get better within a week. Some infections are very mild; but others are severe or even lead to a life-threatening complication known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a major cause of acute kidney failure among children in the U.S.

People can pass along the disease before symptoms appear, so it is important to stop the transmission process.

“We believe we have it confined,” Melnick said.

Clark County Public Health staff will closely monitor children and day care employees for several more days. Any children or staff members who develop symptoms will not be allowed to attend or work in a day care facility until their symptoms resolve and they have two negative tests 24 hours apart.

The health department will continue to test staff and children and keep them away from the center until they are negative for the bacteria on two consecutive tests 24 hours apart.

“I don’t like closing a day care. Parents who are desperate will take their children someplace else and expose a new group,” Melnick said. “We are following staff and the children closely.

The affected families are having to change their child care plans, health officials said: maybe a parent stays home from work, or a relative watches the child.

Marni Storey, the county’s public health services manager, emphasized that those family caregivers must follow prevention steps and wash their hands thoroughly.

“We don’t them to get sick, too,” Storey said.

If you have sustained personal injuries in Kent or if you have lost a loved one and would like to file a Washington wrongful death lawsuit we are here to help. However, time is of essence when dealing with personal injury law and you must act quickly if you are serious about your claim.

Source