Rare E.coli cases baffle Australian doctors
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Rare E.coli cases baffle Australian doctors*
By Todd Cardy
February 13, 2007 05:29pm
Article from: AAP
AUSTRALIA - A RARE strain of E.coli is baffling South Australian health
authorities with 10 cases of the bacteria recorded in the past month.
In the most recent wave of infections, three people have been confirmed
with cases of the possibly deadly 0157 strain since the weekend.
State director of Public Health Kevin Buckett today said no link had
been established between the patients who range in age from two to 81
and live across Adelaide.
One of the most recent diagnosis was in a rural town.
Three people reported symptoms of the infection in January, followed by
four more two weeks ago.
Dr Buckett said the cases had no common source of infection such as a
supermarket or restaurant that had been identified.
Each patient had been in good health and ate a wide variety of food.
"There is nothing that we can grab hold of and say here is a something
that we need to focus on,'' Dr Buckett said.
He said the investigation would focus on finding a link between widely
available foods including meat, fruit and vegetables, that could carry
the bacteria.
People infected with E.coli 0157 are sick for five to six days and
suffer from bloody diarrhoea or diarrhoea with severe abdominal cramps.
"The bacterium produces a toxin that attacks the lining of the gut and
when it gets very severe it will affect the kidney,'' Dr Buckett.
"It can be fatal and it has been fatal in the past.''
Six of the South Australian cases had been admitted to hospital but all
had since been discharged.
Dr Buckett said up to 40 cases of E.coli infection were reported each
year but only a small percentage of those were of the 0157 strain.
"It is not common that we would find three confirmed cases that had been
genetically matched,'' Dr Buckett said.
"The fact that now, within a month, we've got a total of 10 cases makes
it even more unusual.''