These are 10 things you should know if your child has an E. coli infection or has been diagnosed with HUS:
- When your child is diagnosed with E. coli and/or HUS, you should contact your local health department immediately because additional testing needs to be done to determine if your child’s case of E. coli-HUS is part of an outbreak of illnesses. This is important because you may be able to provide information to health officials that helps them find the source of the outbreak.
- You should not throw away food you have that you suspect is the source of your child’s E. coli infection. The food may need to be tested for the presence of E. colibacteria and may be the “smoking gun” that determines the source of the outbreak.
- The food eaten immediately before onset of illness is generally not the cause of the illnessbecause the incubation period for E. coli is from 3 to 10 days.
- Because of the long incubation period, finding the source of an outbreak of E. coli-HUS can be difficult.During that time, the contaminated food responsible for the illnesses may have been eaten or thrown out. Even if a specific food source is not found, the outbreak investigation may lead to a legally responsible party, such as a restaurant.
- Quickly finding the source of an E. coli-HUS outbreak can help prevent additional illnesses.
- The CDC recommends that antibiotics not be used for E. coli infectionsbecause these medications increase the risk of developing HUS. You should make sure your doctor is aware of this.
- Medical research and better understanding of HUS by medical professionals has improved care for HUS patients, lowering the mortality rate. Even if your child is extremely ill, he or she will most likely survive.
- HUS may result in major long-term complications, including chronic renal failure, neurologic dysfunction, and hypertension.
- Even if your child appears to have recovered, he or she is at greater risk of developing kidney problems in the future, including renal failure, and may need a kidney transplant.
It should be noted that a closely related illness, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), is also caused by infection with Shiga-toxin producing E. coli (generally E. coli O157). In adults, the diagnosis for E. coli victims with kidney failure is often TTP-HUS and often involves neurological problems, including stroke, that result in permanent brain damage.
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