Day-care kids' illness likely from E. coli
By NELSON LAMPE
Columbus Telegram
OMAHA, Neb. - Health investigators are trying to find out how at least four children who attended the same day-care center contracted diarrhea from what probably was E. coli.
The four toddlers all were attending the Here Wee Grow center in Sidney.
Two of the children remain hospitalized. The four range in age from 9 to 18 months.
State investigators remain unsure about the exact source of the infection.
Dr. Tom Safranek, the state epidemiologist, said, "We have no idea how it first got into the day-care center."
"We're trying to define how big an outbreak of diarrhea it was," he said Wednesday.
"It's most likely E. coli, but we haven't established that yet," Safranek said. "I don't know that I ever will."
He said he was about to send some stool samples to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for sophisticated testing.
"When we see this in day-care centers it most likely spreads between the kids," he said.
"Day-care center operations have to anticipate that kids with infectious diarrhea will show up, and they have to have a protocol to deal with it," he said.
Safranek said he didn't know whether the Here Wee Grow center was prepared for the outbreak. But, he said, his long-distance impression was "that it's really a highly professional operation."
The classroom and the center's food and water supplies have been tested and a direct tie of E. coli to the center has not been confirmed.
The center has not been fined or previously admonished for any health violations, said Melody Leisy, emergency response coordinator for the Panhandle Public Health District.
The center was still open Wednesday, she said, but one of its rooms remained closed for cleaning and sterilization.
"The day-care facility has handled everything very appropriately," she said.
On Tuesday the center's board of directors released a statement that said the center has "added precautions against E. coli."
"At this time, health officials believe the source of the bacteria was outside the facility. The day-care staff and its board of directors are working closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Panhandle Public Health Department and the state epidemiologist to ensure the bacteria is contained and that the risk of further infection is eliminated."
E. coli bacteria are naturally present in the intestinal tracts of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Most strains are harmless, but E. coli O157:H7 produces a toxin in people that can cause stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and in some cases death.
Children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are most at risk of becoming ill from the bacteria, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
A service of the Associated Press(AP)
