Tag Archives: Children

UK family farm closes after 8 get E. coli O157

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Another reminder to play safe on the farm.

An open farm in West Lancashire has been temporarily closed after eight people, including three children, were struck down with E.coli O157.

One of the children affected is currently in hospital and is described as ‘poorly but stable’.

The eight people are from two families that both recently visited Windmill Animal Farm, on Red Cat Lane, in Burscough.

The farm is being considered as one possible source of the infection and the farmer is co-operating fully with the investigations.
 

Day care diarrhea

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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.

Child stricken with HUS in France; link to frozen ground beef patties

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Our French correspondent Albert forwarded a press release issued yesterday by the French Ministry of Health and Sports; Amy translated.

Following notification on February 11, 2009 to InVS (The French Institute for Public Health Surveillance) of a case of hemolytic uremic syndrome in a child who is hospitalized in the Parisian region, health authorities have begun an investigation to identify the source of contamination.

The tests done on the child indicated he or she was infected with E. coli.

Among the foods consumed was frozen ground beef patties on which tests were conducted. The results of these tests were relayed today to health authorities and demonstrated the presence of E. coli. The link between this case and the consumed food will only be confirmed after further testing which is currently in progress.

While waiting for those results, the authorities have asked the producer to proceed with a  recall of CERGEL brand frozen ground beef patties sold in boxes of 10 with a best-by date of 10/31/09.

The health authorities are asking people who have bought these patties to not eat them and to return them to where they were purchased.

The Ministry also has some general advice, which seems a bit lacking, but maybe it got lost in translation.

Generally you are reminded that:

–    Ground meat ordered at the butcher shop must be consumed that day and frozen ground meat must be used without any prior defrosting;

–    Cooking the ground beef patties through to the center prevents the consequences of E. coli contamination. The bacteria is destroyed by a temperature of 65°C (149°F). Children and pregnant women should not consume rare meat.

–    Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS) is an illness most frequently originating in food, rare in France, and potentially serious for the very young and very old. It can cause acute renal insufficiency in children under the age of 3.
 

E. coli cases from Denver Stock Show reach 23

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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

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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?  

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.