The Huntsville Times reported today on an outlying case of E. coli that was investigated as potentially linked to the E. coli outbreak linked to lettuce consumed at Little Rosie's restaurant in Huntsville. While that case was ultimately determined to be unrelated to the Little Rosie's E. coli outbreak, the Times updated its report on three victims of the outbreak who were hospitalized. The three remain hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). A recap on the outbreak from today's article:
Health officials say the Huntsville outbreak most likely was caused by contaminated lettuce served at Little Rosie's between June 27 and June 30. Eighteen of the 19 known victims ate at the popular Mexican restaurant on Whitesburg Drive on those dates; the other infected person did not eat at Little Rosie's and caught the bacteria another way.
Three Little Rosie's customers have been in the hospital since about July 4 undergoing dialysis for kidney damage.
Treatment for HUS is minimal, with doctors providing mostly supportive care for individuals who develop the syndrome. Dialysis and plasmapheresis are two treatments physicians can use to help victims battle HUS. From the About-HUS website:
There is no known therapy to halt the progression of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. The active stage of the disease usually lasts one to two weeks, during which a variety of complications are possible. HUS is a frightening illness that even in the best American medical facilities has a mortality rate of about 5%. By comparison, the mortality rate in the developing world is much higher. About 50% of patients require dialysis due to kidney failure, 25% develop pancreatitis, 25% experience seizures, and 5% suffer from diabetes mellitus. The majority of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome patients requires transfusion of blood products and develops complications common to the critically ill. The illness is a living nightmare for the patients and families, and leaves a painful memory that lingers long after the acute illness had passed.
Among survivors of HUS, about five percent will eventually develop end stage kidney disease, with the resultant need for dialysis or transplantation, and another five to ten percent experience neurological or pancreatic problems which significantly impair quality of life. Since the longest available follow-up studies of HUS are about twenty (20) years, an accurate lifetime prognosis is not available, and as such, medical follow-up is indicated for even the mildest affected cases.
