Children paraded in support of raw milk
Shameless exploitation of children? Sure, why not. As Henry Fonda said in the movie, On Golden Pond, “What use is it having dwarfs around if they don’t do chores.” (Those are my daughters, eating genetially engineered sweet corn and drinking pasteurized ciider, circa 2000.
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But why do some have to be so sanctimonious about it?
This is from Wise Traditions: The Weston A. Price Foundation 10th Annual Conference, that happened last weekend with a greatest hits of raw milk promoters and bullshiters. And, like the line-dancing instructor shouting out fascist routines, these kids are being paraded and chanting, “we want raw milk.” An updated table of raw milk outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-milk-outbreaks.
Shopping cart sanitation (and don't let kids lick packages of raw meat)
Amy, Sorenne and I go grocery shopping fairly frequently. The 11-month-old is curious about everything, a trait I called the day she was born; she's alert, curious and increasingly mischievous.
When she was strong and co-ordinated enough to sit on her with a seatbelt on the seat behind the handle, a battle of wills soon emerged as Sorenne would have her hands on the handle, then in her mouth, or worse, would try to suckle the handle.
At this point I become much more rigorous and consistent about using those sanitary wipes to wipe down the shopping cart seat and handle.
In 2004, clear displays promoting shopping cart sanitation were novel. And this one from Phoenix (upper right) is far more dramatic and attention-grabbing than a small container nailed to a bleak wall beside the shopping carts, which is still the norm today.
But things are changing.
Last year, USA Today reported that supermarkets and other retailers that provide shopping carts are increasingly looking to limit germ exposure for customers and their families.
, making sanitary wipes more readily available and in some cases, installing a whole cart cleaning system like this one in Wisconsin (photo by Peter J. Zuzga, for USA TODAY)
The trend continues to grow. Newspuller Gonzalo was in the Manhattan (Kansas) Target store recently and snapped these shots (below).
Parents and caregivers also have to think like the bad bug: like, don’t give the kids packages of raw meat to play with or leave within reach. Olga Henao, an epidemiologist for the U.S. Centers for disease control told USA Today last year that doing so triples the chance they may contract salmonella and quadruples it for campylobacter.
“Infants can become ill when they transfer bacteria from the packaging into their mouths.”
All UK E. coli petting zoo kids released from hospital - illness toll remains 93
The final two children who remained in hospital following the E.coli outbreak at a Surrey farm have finally been allowed home, more than a month after the site was shut down by health officials.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said on Tuesday that the total number of E.coli cases linked to Godstone Farm still stood at 93, adding that "all children have been discharged from hospital."
Twin brothers Aaron and Todd Furnell, from Paddock Wood in Kent (right) underwent dialysis at St Thomas's Hospital in London after falling ill with the O157 strain of the infection following a visit to Godstone Farm.
Two-year old Aaron Furnell spent six weeks in hospital; he still has to be fed food through a tube.
The site closed on September 12, two weeks after the first case of E.coli was reported there.
A third out of 102 samples taken from animals were found to contain E.coli 0157, and the chief executive of the HPA, Justin McCracken, admitted the agency should have acted quicker in shutting the farm.
An independent investigation has been commissioned and will be led by George Griffin, professor of infectious diseases and medicine at St George’s, University of London, and chair of the advisory committee on dangerous pathogens.
Families affected will be asked if they want to have their say during the probe, which will look at how Godstone Farm was being operated, according to the standards and guidance set for open farms, and the response to the outbreak from all relevant parties.
Legal action is also being planned by some parents of children who were left seriously ill.
A spokesman for Godstone Farm said a decision on when the site will re-open could be made later this week.
E. coli petting zoo delusion in the UK
This is how delusional some folks are about E. coli O157 in the U.K.
The Exmouth Herald reports that Nigel Lee, who runs the World of Country Life, has slammed the hype surrounding an E.coli scare as ridiculous after being told he can reopen all attractions following an investigation.
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The U.K. Health Protection Agency recommended Lee close the animal portion of his attraction three weeks ago after three children who contracted the O157 strain of E. coli had potential links to the farm.
Of 30 samples collected from sheep, goats, chickens, rabbits, pigs and an empty calf pen, E. coli was detected in eight representing a mixed group of sheep, goats, chickens and also contained a rabbit.
A further positive result was found in a sample from a pig pen. Following the examination, the HPA advised the attractions could be re-opened.
Mr Lee was pissed with the HPA after they issued an incorrect media statement three weeks ago which implied the site was completely closed, stating,
"All the hype just got ridiculous. It was just the petting farm and deer train ride that was closed.”
Apparently Lee thinks sick kids is hype, and what about the 8 out of 30 positive samples?
Below is a table of petting zoo outbreaks, largely adopted from a list Bill Marler collected.
Animals test positive for E. coli O157 on Godstone Farm in Surrey, now linked to illness in 67 kids
The BBC is reporting that lambs, pigs, goats, cattle, ponies and rabbit droppings at a Surrey farm at the centre of an E.coli outbreak have tested positive , with a whopping 33 of 102 samples likely to contain the O157 strain of the infection.
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The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said the total number of E.coli cases linked to Godstone Farm had risen to 67.
Eight children remain in hospital in a "stable or improving condition."
57 kids sick in UK from petting zoos; one owner says risk is overblown; lawsuits pending; problems in Vancouver and Ontario too
With 57 children sick with E. coli O157 linked to petting farms in the U.K., and 10 still in hospital, farm owners said they would oppose a ban on small children visiting the attractions, and one of the owners said the risk is being greatly overblown.
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The U.K. government has rightly decided to ignore such statements and is preparing to upgrade E. coli O157 to a "notifiable disease" – on a par with infections like smallpox and measles – to speed up detecting outbreaks.
With a half-dozen foodborne illness outbreaks of E. coli and Salmonella throughout the U.K. being reported in the past week, yes, maybe they should be notifiable disease(s).
Maybe I’m losing something in translation.
Hugh Pennington, emeritus professor of bacteriology at the University of Aberdeen and Groundhog Day enthusiast has seen all this before.
Pennington told The Times E coli O157 was prevalent in cows, sheep and goats, with research showing about one in 10 cows carried the bug and 40% of herds. He called for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidelines on petting farms to be reviewed and a minimum age introduced.
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“There will have to be a look at the guidelines to see if they need tightening and a review of whether they are being properly followed.”
This is the problem: there are plenty of guidelines out there to manage all sorts of risks, food-related or otherwise, but do people really do what they say they do? Or do they really think, it's no biggie.
In the wake of the outbreak, the U.K. has closed four such petting farms, either linked directly to the outbreak or, their standards sucked.
My friend Scott Weese, a veterinarian researcher at the University of Guelph and host of the Worms and Germs blog, wrote earlier today that:
Considering all of the outbreaks that have been attributed to petting zoos, including an outbreak in the UK this month that has sickened dozens and another in Vancouver has affected at least 13 people, you would think that people who operate petting zoos would start to get the clue. Unfortunately, that's clearly not the case.
My family and I went to the Fergus (Ontario) Fall Fair today. Apart from the petting zoos, it was a great day, but the potential for ending up in hospital with a life-threatening infection shouldn't have to be a concern for fair attendees.
This fair has two petting zoos. One is in association with a pony ride. We went there first and while my kids were looking at the animals, I noticed there was a table and a sign saying to use a hand sanitizer after touching the animals, but there were not actually any hand sanitizers present. I asked the attendant and he immediately started looking. They eventually found some but we gave up after waiting a few minutes and went to the other petting zoo location because a handwashing station was present there. Despite a large crowd around the first petting zoo, I didn't see anyone following our actions so presumably almost no one washed their hands after petting the animals. The good thing about this first petting zoo was they had a clean facility, appropriate animals and no major problems apart from the forgotten sanitizers.
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Petting zoo number 2 was not as good. There were numerous problems, some of them very major.
* Inappropriate animals #1: As we walked in, someone held out a baby chick and tried to give it two my 2-yr-old daughter to handle. Standard guidelines are that children under 5 should not handle young poultry, so these animals are inappropriate for any petting zoo.
* Inappropriate animals #2: The next thing we passed was a young calf. Calves are also considered a high-risk animal and should not be present in petting zoos.
* Inappropriate animals #3: The calf had diarrhea (see the diarrhea staining and hair loss probably associated with prolonged diarrhea in picture). It's very likely that this calf was shedding one or more infectious agents in its diarrhea, such as Cryptosporidium.
* Food for sale: Food was being sold and consumed inside the tent where the petting zoo was. This is inappropriate.
Petting zoos can be great events for kids. They can also be sources of large and serious outbreaks.
Hopefully nothing bad will come from this and we won't hear reports of illness in petting zoo participants. But, as I've said before, hope is not a proper infection control program.
Anyone having a petting zoo must know the issues, risks and proper measures. Reading the Compendium of measures to prevent disease associated with animals in public settings would be a good start.
A leading personal injury lawyer, Jill Greenfield, a partner at Field Fisher Waterhouse in the U.K., told The Independent that she has received instruction from a family involved and expects a class action. In 2001, she represented Tom Dowling, who was awarded damages of £2.6m after he contracted E. coli as a four-year-old during a school trip to a north London farm in 1997, which resulted in his becoming quadriplegic and brain damaged. His was the third case of E. coli at the farm within a few months.
Petting zoo terrors: another UK child treated for E.coli; twins affected
Another child is being treated in hospital following an outbreak of E.coli at a farm in Surrey.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there were now 13 youngsters being treated, of which four were seriously ill and six were in a stable condition.
Three are improving in hospital, with the total number of cases of E.coli 0157 linked to Godstone Farm now at 37.
The farm, near Redhill, was closed on Saturday - although the first E.coli case was reported on 27 August.
Parents upset at U.K. petting zoo and farm visit; dozen kids in hospital with E. coli
In the fall of 1998, I accompanied one of my five daughters on a kindergarten trip to the farm. After petting the animals and touring the crops --I questioned the fresh manure on the strawberries --we were assured that all the food produced was natural. We then returned for unpasteurized apple cider. .jpg)
The host served the cider in a coffee urn, heated, so my concern about it being unpasteurized was abated. I asked: "Did you serve the cider heated because you heard about other outbreaks and were concerned about liability?" She responded, "No. The stuff starts to smell when it's a few weeks old and heating removes the smell."
I’m all for farm visits, local markets, petting zoos, but I want the operators to have a clue about the dangerous bugs that make people – especially little kids – sick.
The Brits are particularly pissed that Godstone Farm in Surrey, which appears to be the source of 36 E. coli O157 illnesses, including 12 kids in hospital, stayed open as long as it did.
The Telegraph reports this morning,
As many as 18,000 people were allowed to visit the farm, where children are allowed to touch and feed animals including geese, goats and llamas, in the nine days after health protection officials became aware of a possible risk.
A total of 36 people have been taken ill with the potentially lethal bacterial infection including 12 children who are in hospital.
Four of the children are said to be in a serious condition after developing complications such as kidney failure as well as diarrhoea.
Among those being treated in hospital are Tracy Mock's two-year-old twin sons who visited the attraction on Aug 31 while her five-year-old daughter is also ill.
"If they had just shut the place down to investigate, my sons would not be in hospital on kidney dialysis machines," Miss Mock, from Kent, told the BBC.
"They are still in hospital, my partner and I are taking turns to be there with them. One has had a blood transfusion.
Neil Wilson’s six year-old nephew Tommy contracted E-coli after visiting the farm and is now in hospital in Sidcup suffering from kidney failure.
Mr Wilson said: "I can’t understand why they didn’t shut down that area of the farm until they found out exactly what the problem was.
"I just think they kept it open because it was the school holidays.”
Richard Oatway, the farm’s manager, said he had complied with everything officials had asked him to do and would not reopen until given the all-clear.
Dick, I want to ask you a few questions about verotoxigenic E. coli and ruminants.
Here’s a video about petting zoo safety we did a couple of years ago.
UK petting zoo E. coli O157 outbreak: 36 confirmed sick; 12 in hospital all under age of 10; four in serious condition; this won't turn out well
It’s like people in the U.K. had never heard of E. coli O157. Despite outbreak after outbreak – often involving children at nurseries -- public inquiries and a single food safety agency, the Brits just seem oblivious when it comes to dangerous pathogens that send kids to the hospital.
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This morning, the London Times reported that
“Thousands of children across the South of England may be at risk from the E. coli bug in what looks to be the largest UK outbreak linked to transmission from farm animals."
Godstone Farm in Surrey, a popular family attraction where children are encouraged to stroke and touch animals, is closed while the Health Protection Agency (HPA) conducts tests to find out the cause of the outbreak which has left 12 children in hospital, four of them in a serious condition.
About 1,000 children, mainly from South London, Surrey, Kent and Sussex, visit the farm every day during the school holidays and at weekends. It is feared that 30,000 children could be at risk of infection.
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It has emerged health officials knew about the outbreak among people who visited the farm days before it was closed to the public.
The Health Protection Agency became aware of the outbreak in late August after cases were traced to the farm.
One parent has expressed her anger, saying the decision for the farm to remain open was an "absolute disgrace".
But farm manager Richard Oatway said the farm had acted responsibly and was co-operating with the investigation.
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Richard, please share with us your knowledge of natural reservoirs of E. coli O157, and the steps you’ve taken to control such dangerous pathogens from infecting children who visit your farm. Handwashing isn’t enough.
Six children infected with E. coli in Colorado
The Mountain Mail reports that local and state medical officials Tuesday confirmed six children in Chaffee County have been infected with Escherichia coli in the incident that began earlier in July.
With the incubation period for the bacteria nearing its end, Chaffee County Public Health Nurse Susan Ellis said Tuesday no new cases have been reported since about July 14.
She said 30 people will have been tested by Friday as investigators continue to seek the source of contamination.
Ellis said DNA from stool samples is being examined at the state laboratory in Denver. DNA samples from two of the children, she said, were identified as matching.
Three kids stricken with E. coli O157:H7 linked to London, Ontario Halal store
The London Free Press – that’s London, Ontario, in Canada – reports that after three children were diagnosed with E coli O157:H7 infections within five days, the Middlesex-London Health Unit advised the public today to avoid eating any ground beef or spiced ground beef (kofta) purchased from Westmount Halal Food Store located at 490 Wonderland Road South.
In two of the cases, children consumed kofta purchased on June 14 and 15 from the store. The source of the third child's infection has not been identified, but the child's family also eats halal food, although it didn't purchase any from the Westmount store.
The public is being advised to:
• Not eat any ground beef or kofta purchased from the Westmount Halal Food Store between June 2 and today. The store is prepared to refund any customer who purchased these products.
• Contact the Health Unit (519-663-5317 ext. 2330, after hours 519-675-7523) and their healthcare provider if they have developed symptoms of severe or bloody diarrhea since June 2.
• Contact the Health Unit if they have any ground beef or kofta purchased from the Westmount Halal Food Store between June 2 and today in their home.
Urban Hens promotes chicken poop for kids' gardens in Colorado
A public health student at Kansas State passed along this story from 9NEWS.com about Urban Hens, a Boulder, Colorado-based group that is working with the Children, Youth and Environments Center for Research Design at CU and a private grant to supposedly help teach sustainability to children by placing chickens near neighborhood and school gardens.
Wynn Martens, the co-founder of Urban Hens, said,
"How can you be truly sustaining and that is by reusing the waste in any system and keeping it inside the system instead of continuing to consume and throw it off. People become interested for different reasons. Some people are concerned with the humane treatment of the chickens. Other people are interested in the nutritional value. Other people really are interested in the educational component, so we want to support all those."
The children go to the Blossom Pre-School across the alley from Shawnee Gardens. Their curriculum will include responsibilities such as feeding and partly taking care of the chickens. Many of their lunch and dinner scraps will go to the chickens. The chickens' waste meanwhile will help fertilize the Shawnee Gardens garden. That garden's products will be eaten by both parties as will the eggs the chickens lay.
Wow. I thought American maternity leave policies were sorta barbaric – six weeks versus a year in Canada – but to make pre-schoolers clean up chicken shit, compost it and then make them eat the food with chicken poop. Hey, maybe I got it wrong, but there is nothing mentioned about microbial food safety in this situation, no details in the story or on the websites as to what constitutes proper composting.
Food porn over food safety. It'll be a public health person who gets to clean up the mess.
Children shouldn't play with raw poultry
One of Amy’s graduate students sent me the following picture this morning.
‘Nuff said.
Day care diarrhea
Amy and I are fortunate we get to spend most of our time with baby Sorenne. Both of us do most of our work at home, Katie’s been a great help, and we have a student babysitter come to the house twice a week for a total of five hours.
If we were in a different situation and had to use a day care, I’d be there checking out the food safety. The Cannock House Day Nursery, Chelsfield, U.K., would be an excellent model of how not to do things.
In March 2007, the nursery was closed after 147 people contracted salmonella, including 139 children. Yesterday, a court was told salmonella was found on a chopping board and three mixing bowls in the kitchen at the premises.
Prosecutor Rob Sowersby said the cleanliness of the kitchen was found to be poor and cleaning facilities were too small, being appropriate for a home rather than a business.
Mr Sowersby said there were insufficient procedures relating to washing hands, changing nappies and organising cleaning.
Mr Sowersby added there was no toilet paper in the toilets and that children were handed some when they had to go.
E. coli cases from Denver Stock Show reach 23
The Denver Department of Health says three more cases of E. coli have been discovered in the past week in an outbreak believed to have started at the National Western Stock Show, bringing the total number of cases to 23.
Many of the cases are in children along the Front Range, from Boulder to El Paso County.
Several of the sick children go to day care and at least two of the cases appear to have happened after ill children came into contact with other sick children, according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE).
It is unclear how the E. coli first spread at the Stock Show.
Raw milk crusader Michael Schmidt: A thoroughly modern Marie Antoinette
Amy and I went to Versailles last summer while touring around France, and I’ve seen that Marie Antoinette movie so I consider myself well-versed in the French aristocracy of the late 18th century.
Toronto Globe and Mail columnist John Doyle explored the same themes this morning in a review of a documentary about Ontario raw milk crusader Michael Schmidt which is being broadcast tonight on Wallyworld – sorry, Newsworld, Canada’s cable news program.
It's a fascinating documentary with many passionate declarations on whether farmers should be allowed to sell raw milk and the public should be allowed to consume it. It's rich in irony.
It's also an enraging program, largely because the real issue is the existence of the urban bourgeoisie's delusion of invincibility, ignorance about science and tendency to posture in order to justify selfishness.
Schmidt himself is a fascinating character, self-mythologizing relentlessly and shrewdly. He's always in a hat or cap and presents himself as an artist. No doubt his little farm is clean and well-run, but when Schmidt and his cabal of celebrity-chef supporters appear together and prattle on about taste and claim to be against "big business," they're just nitwits. …
The vulnerability of children is a key issue. Sure, adults are entitled to choice - but allowed the choice of giving unpasteurized milk to children, who have no choice? Call me peculiar, but the safety of children has nothing to do with the "nanny state" interfering in some alleged gourmand's taste for dangerous foods. One reason the nanny state exists is to protect the young, the elderly and the vulnerable. …
Watching Schmidt and his supporters, I was reminded of the one of the phenomena of the Romantic period in Europe - all those pastoral elegies of the 1700s, in which the poet idealizes rustic life, especially the shepherd, for the enjoyment of aristocrats.
That phenomenon peaked, I suppose, in France, in the late 18th century, when it was a fad at the French court to play at being part of the pastoral world. Marie Antoinette liked nothing better than to pretend she was a shepherdess (that's her Versailles farmhouse, right and below). It was an indulgent fantasy, very far removed from the reality of rustic life. Then came the Revolution. And little wonder. The raw-milk issue is about today's Marie Antoinettes.
E. coli claims second child in Kansas
A Chase County boy is one of two young Kansas children who died within the past several days from E. coli infection, although the Kansas Department of Health and Environment said the deaths are unrelated and were caused by different E. coli serotypes.
Funeral arrangements were being made today for Brant Burton, 4, who died Sunday in Wesley Regional Medical Center in Wichita.
An 18-month-old from Liberal, Tanner Strickland, reportedly died Wednesday in Wesley. Tanner’s brother remains in Wesley in stable condition with the same illness.
Fifty-two cases of E-coli were reported to KDHE in 2007; 33 were caused by E-coli O157:H7. Kansas' three-year median for 2004-2006 was 48 cases. The highest rate of disease (8.8 per 100,000) was reported among children aged less than five years.
Pediatrics warns against pets for toddlers
Young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles — because of risks for disease.
That’s according to the nation’s leading pediatricians group in a new report about dangers from exotic animals.
Besides evidence that they can carry dangerous and sometimes potentially deadly germs, exotic pets may be more prone than cats and dogs to bite, scratch or claw — putting children younger than 5 particularly at risk, the report says.
Young children are vulnerable because of developing immune systems plus they often put their hands in their mouths and are awkward at handling animals, the report says.
The report appears in the October edition of the American Academy of Pediatric’s medical journal, Pediatrics.
A spokesman for the International Hedgehog Association said there’s no reason to single out hedgehogs or other exotic pets.
‘‘Our recommendation is that no animal should be a pet for kids 5 and under,’’ said Z.G. Standing Bear. He runs a rescue operation near Pikes Peak, Colo. for abandoned hedgehogs, which became fad pets about 10 years ago.
Abstract
Exposure to animals can provide many benefits during the growth and development of children. However, there are potential risks associated with animal exposures, including exposure to nontraditional pets in the home and animals in public settings. Educational materials, regulations, and guidelines have been developed to minimize these risks. Pediatricians, veterinarians, and other health care professionals can provide advice on selection of appropriate pets as well as prevention of disease transmission from nontraditional pets and when children contact animals in public settings.
E. coli continues to kill and maim
There’s a lot of E. coli, the kind that sickens and kills, circulating around the U.S. In addition to the Locust Grove, OK, outbreak of E. coli O111 which has killed one and sickened 314, E. coli O157:H7 continues its rampage.
A three-year-old in Colorado died last Friday; another child who attended the same day-care has also tested positive but is expected to recover. The daycare is closed.
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In Ohio, a three-year-old girl died Sept. 13 of kidney failure at Akron Children’s Hospital after suffering from diarrhea, blood in her stool and vomiting, the hallmarks of shiga-toxin E. coli infection.
A Redmond family is praying for their 19-month-old son's recovery after he was diagnosed with E. coli and flown to a children's hospital in Portland.
A benefit was held for a three-year-old and his family after he spent a month in a Minneapolis Children's Hospital, again with E. coli.
A fundraising BBQ for the Forest Ranch, California, volunteer firefighters has sickened at least 24, with two remaining in hospital, including a 6-year-old girl.
In Michigan, health officials have confirmed 24 cases of E. coli O157:H7 throughout the state, broadening their investigation from an initial cluster at Michigan State University.
The child pictured is five-year-old Mason Jones who died after eating a school lunch in Wales in Oct. 2005. These are the faces and stories of foodborne illness. And that’s just one week in the U.S.
Baking cookies with the Mazurs: Kids make terrible chefs
We have a delicious chocolate chip cookie recipe in our family and it puts the icing on the cake at our family gatherings. Over Christmas my immediate family and I spent time with my uncle and his family in Wichita, KS. My uncle has a seven-year-old boy and three-year-old girl, and after much playing with playdoh and coloring we soon became bored and started looking for a new activity. Why not bake chocolate chip cookies?
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Well, all we had to say was the word “cookie” and the kids were on board with this activity. My uncle and my mom were adamant about washing the kids’ hands before we started cooking, but that was a hopeless cause. Their hands only had a tiny bit of soap on a few fingers, and there wasn’t even much scrubbing involved. It was just a quick rinse. And as soon as the kids were done washing their hands, they put their hands right back in their mouths, on the floor, on the dog, who knows where else.
I pointed out to my mom that letting the kids mix the ingredients and mixing the batter was a terrible idea. They’ll stick their fingers in it, and they’ll sneeze in it. But it had already been decided that EVERYONE was going to help out with the baking, so the kids went ahead and both took turns stirring the cookie dough.
I have to admit, I’m a bit of a germ-a-phobe, except for some cases and watching these kids contaminate perfectly good chocolate chip cookies just broke my heart. I can only imagine what kinds of germs were in that cookie dough, but hopefully all of the germs were killed when the dough was put into the oven.
However, after the oven when the cookies were sitting on the cooling rack there were a few incidents of kids picking up cookies and then putting them back. The kids were the exact opposite of food inspectors. Instead of carefully examining the cookies with clean hands, the kids picked up the cookies with dirty hands and brought them quite close to their face (even sometimes touching it to their nose) to sniff and see if they tasted good.
Needless to say, I did not have a one of the cookies.
Handwashing is one of the major tools used to combat food borne illness. Kids especially must be supervised to ensure that they use an adequate amount of soap and scrub their hands for at least 20-30 seconds.
That bloody E. coli is popping up everywhere
Six-year-old Sydney fell ill last Wednesday, and though she was diagnosed quickly, has not found relief from the painful cramps and bloody diarrhea the infection has caused. In fact, she may soon be put on dialysis and her platelet count is still low.
Sydney's mother, Marcia Jacobi, sent a letter with a neighbor to the New Albany/Floyd County School Board meeting on Monday describing her heart-wrenching experience as she continued to sit by Sydney's bedside at Kosair Children's Hospital.
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The infection is thought to be caused by a meal at Galena Elementary School, where five other children have fallen ill from the same deadly bacteria.
The Assistant Superintendent, Bill Briscoe, is wary to admit that the bacteria was contracted at the school, or if all six students (and another suspected two) may have gotten the bug from another source.
Sydney's mother, of course, is not at all satisfied with the school district's reaction. "She is sincerely appalled by the way this has been handled," reads her neighbor on Jacobi's behalf, "Parents of both healthy and ill children feel this has been dramatically downplayed."
