8-yr-old Parker Nixon of Hillsboro has been diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome as a result of a possible viral infection while visiting Mexico with his family, according to the Hillsboro Argus.
Hemolytic uremic syndrome is a severe case of an E. coli bacterial infection in children that destroys red blood cells, resulting in brain clots and kidney failure.
His mother, Juanita Young, thinks that he probably contracted the virus from the swimming pool of the Vallarta Torres five-star hotel in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where the family of three and six extended family members had vacationed in December. Each family member got a mild case of E. coli.
Nixon was transferred to the intensive care unit at Emmanual Hospital in Portland, where he suffered two strokes, two seizures and a loss of most involuntary bodily functions as a result of mini blood clots in the brain.
The only thing doctors could do for Nixon was to let the outbreak run its course and keep him hydrated and under dialysis, but are amazed at his rapid recovery.