E. coli is nothing to be trifled with, especially when it involves children. A recent E. coli outbreak in an Indiana day care center has prompted questions as to the health and safety of children in their care.
More than 10 children at the center have tested positive for E. coli, and the parents of those children are frustrated at the lack of information being provided by the Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health while their children spend nearly a month in area hospitals.
They do know, however, that some children at the child-care center had had diarrhea for two weeks before any children came down with E. coli, but that had been attributed to the fact that some of the children were teething. The child-care center accepted children when they were sick, as long as the illness was regarded as “mild”.
At least one child has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome, a potentially deadly kidney complication that destroys red blood cells.
The DOH has refused to identify the child-care center, but has announced that tests have found no evidence of E. coli in either the food or water at the center.
Investigators suspect at this point that the outbreak was the result of person-to-person contact, but even that has not been confirmed. If it is established that that was the cause, the person who was the source will not be named.
