Child hospitalized with HUS in Birmingham
The Troy Messenger reported that a 22-month-old child has been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome in the Birmingham, Alabama, Children's Hospital. Her grandfather, Dr. Malone Chandler, was interviewed for the story, and discussed her illness and possible exposures she could have had to E. coli, the most common cause of HUS.
“The concern for Mallory is that her kidney function began to decline in the past 24 hours. She is on dialysis, temporarily, and she has had a blood transfusion. She is not in great shape, but the news that we got today is encouraging.”Chandler said the source of Mallory's illness is not known and may never be.
“At the beach, Mallory played in the pool,” he said. “She had not eaten anything much since last Wednesday or Thursday, so we really don't know of any food that she might have eaten that could have made her sick. We are wondering if it could have been something in the pool water.”
Chandler said in the past week four children have been admitted to Children's Hospital suffering from the same symptoms as Mallory.
Past outbreaks have been traced to contaminated water sources, such as pools, water parks, and spray parks. In the summer of 1998, 26 children became ill from E. coli O157:H7 contracted while playing in the kiddie pool at White Water Park, a commercial water park in suburban Atlanta. Seven of those children were hospitalized and a 2-year-old boy died after suffering HUS.
Operators of the pool initially denied responsibility for the E. coli outbreak, but investigators determined that the chlorine level in the pool was well below the local health standard on the days when the water was contaminated, greatly increasing the risk of infection.
Marler Clark represented most of the victims and their families, eventually obtaining millions of dollars in settlements. The incident also increased national awareness of the hazards of water contamination, prompting the industry to pay closer attention to pool cleaning and chlorine.
