Two Vermont children have been hospitalized in Boston with hemolytic uremic syndrome secondary to E. coli infection.

According to family and friends a five-year-old Barre Town girl and a three-year-old girl from Randolph both remain on dialysis after being diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome - a potentially life-threatening disease that destroys red blood cells and causes kidney failure.

Health officials investigating the two cases at this point do not believe that the cases are related, but are continuing to look into the source of both children's E. coli infections.