Five children in Kentucky are being treated at at Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication of an E. coli O157:H7 infection. The Kentucky Department of Public Health is looking for the source of this cluster of illnesses.
Of the 5 children, 3 are from Hardin County, one is from Oldham County and one is from Boone County. All of them are very young.
E. coli poisoning can be contracted from people, animals, food and water. With children from 3 counties sickened, it is possible the source is a food product that was contaminated with the bacteria during processing and then distributed to restaurants or grocery stores. It is also possible the children all ate at the same event or restaurant, or visited the same petting zoo. The key to finding the source is finding connections between the children, things they ate and places they went.
“Children with hemolytic uremic syndrome are often hospitalized for weeks or months with kidney failure and a host of other serious medical problems,” said Fred Pritzker, a national food safety lawyer who represents children with E. coli-HUS. “At the same time families are struggling with medical expenses, parents are losing income because they have to take time off of work. Finding the party responsible for the illness provides families with the opportunity to take action and get financial help.”
Some of the 5 children with HUS have required dialysis for kidney failure.
Children with HUS often have long-term kidney damage. “These children and their parents have to live with the knowledge that the children may need future dialysis, blood transfusions and kidney transplants. We believe the children should be compensated for this risk,” said Fred, who recently won $4.5 million for a young woman who had E. coli-HUS.