Chris Cline of the Daily Journal reports today that two-year-old Emilie Allen is breathing on her own for the first time in over a week. The Bonne Terre girl was placed on life support on Sept. 29 after having difficulty breathing due to complications of E. coli 0157:H7. Allen came off the ventilator early Friday afternoon and according to family members is conscious for the first time since arriving at a St. Louis hospital.
From the article:
“All in all, things are looking up today,” said Emilie’s father Guy Allen. “Emilie is still receiving dialysis, but for the first time since about the second day she has been in the hospital, she is awake.”
Allen said doctors had been decreasing his daughter’s medication gradually over the past week.
The St. Francois County Health Department conducted routine inspections at two local restaurants on Monday in an attempt to identify where the strain of E. coli originated that infected the 2-year-old Bonne Terre girl.
“We have not made any direct links to any of the food establishments that we inspected with the origin of the strain of E. coli 0157:H7,” said Jon Peacock, Environmental Public Health Specialist. “We were given information from the family of the infected person of places they had eaten prior to being infected.”said.