Tag Archives: Death

Woman, 23, dies in St. Louis after contracting E. coli

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A 23-year-old is dead after she got E. coli, possibly after eating at a local restaurant. Her family is now asking for an investigation into the restaurant.

KMOV reports Ciera Brookfield told her family that she felt sick after eating at a Chinese restaurant in Overland, near St. Louis, Missouri.

Ciera was just 23 when she passed away on Thursday. Her family says the Ladue Horton Watkins High School grad got sick after eating at Hon’s Wok, which is next door to where she worked at Woofie’s on Woodson Road.

"She came home about 8 that night. She came in, she laid down on the couch, she said ‘mom, I think I have food poisoning,’" said Donna Clark, Ciera’s mother. "I went to work, came back and she was very frantic, saying that she thought it was really bad."

That was last Thursday. By Friday night Ciera was in the ICU. Mercy Hospital confirms that she had E. coli. But Ciera also suffered from Sickle Cell disease, which made the infection worse.

"It went to her blood stream and for a person with sickle cell, it’s harder to fight it," Clark said.

As Ciera’s family grieves, they want the St. Louis County Health Department to investigate the Chinese restaurant.

"We don’t want anybody else to die like my daughter died," Clark said.

But it’s important to note that the CDC says E. coli symptoms usually appear three to four days after someone contracts the bacteria but that it can be as short as one day.

The St. Louis County Health Department cannot confirm that Ciera contracted E. coli at Hon’s Wok. The department is investigating a complaint there but says, at this point, it does not include E. coli.

"We’ve been open over 10 years and [nothing] like this [has happened] before," said Thao Vuong, Hon’s Wok manager.

Mourners gather in bright pink for funeral of eight-year-old UK girl who died from E.c oli after holiday in US

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Hundreds of mourners dressed in bright pink gathered today in Ayrshire for the funeral of tragic E.coli victim Rachel Shaw.

The Daily Mail reports Rachel’s family – including mother Louise Baillie, 38, and father Adam Shaw, 35 – asked mourners attending Dalrymple Parish Church, East Ayrshire, to dress in the eight-year-old’s favourite color rather than wearing black.

A packed Ayrshire church saw family, neighbours, school pals and teachers come to bid a final farewell to the schoolgirl, whose little white coffin was decorated with pink flowers and a framed photograph.

Rachel died in hospital on Saturday night after contracting E. coli at the end of July. An investigation is underway as to the exact source of the bug, but it is believed she may have contracted it in the U.S. as she had recently returned from visiting her father, who lives there.

FDA: 141 sick, 2 dead in 20 states from Salmonella in cantaloupe

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration along with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state and local officials are investigating a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections.

A total of 141 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 20 states.

The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (7), Arkansas (3), California (2), Georgia (1), Illinois (17), Indiana (13), Iowa (7), Kentucky (50), Michigan (6), Minnesota (3), Missouri (9), Mississippi (2), New Jersey (1), North Carolina (3), Ohio (3), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (3), Tennessee (6), Texas (1), and Wisconsin (2).

Thirty-one persons have been hospitalized, and two deaths have been reported in Kentucky.

In the course of their investigation, state officials in Kentucky and Indiana found evidence that they believe indicate cantaloupes grown in southwestern Indiana may be a source of the ongoing Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak. FDA officials are actively investigating potential sources of the outbreak, and will continue to update the public as more specific information becomes available.

2 dead, 50 ill in Kentucky with Salmonella from Indiana cantaloupes; multi-state outbreak unfolding

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A strain of salmonella associated with two deaths and 50 illnesses in Kentucky since early July has been found in cantaloupes tested by the state, public health officials said Friday.

Acting Public Health Commissioner Steve Davis issued a statement Friday advising Kentuckians to avoid eating cantaloupes that were grown in southwestern Indiana.

"In addition, health care providers are encouraged to be mindful of patients who may have symptoms consistent with salmonellosis and report all cases to the local health department," Davis said.

Illnesses have occurred statewide and many counties have people who have been sickened, including some in Central and Eastern Kentucky, said Beth Fisher, a spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.

Cases are most concentrated around Owensboro and in far Western Kentucky, where both deaths occurred, Fisher said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is collaborating with public health officials in affected states and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to investigate the ongoing outbreak, including tracing the source of the affected melons and shipments of melons that may have been contaminated.

A table of cantaloupe-related outbreaks is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/cantaloupe-related-outbreaks.

UK girl, eight, dies from E. coli O157

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An eight-year-old girl has died after contracting an E. coli infection but health officials have stressed it is not part of an outbreak.

The Daily Mail reports the child was from East Ayrshire in Scotland and had contracted the E. coli O157 strain.

She was treated in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow but sadly died.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran said it has not identified the source of the infection but it does not believe the case is part of an outbreak.

Dr Jane Cooper, consultant in public health medicine said: ‘Our thoughts are with the family during this very difficult time. “

Always sad: 73-year-old dies after E. coli infection at Ohio picnic

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A 73-year-old male from the Germantown area has died from complications of E. coli infection.

Sources said Lowell Draffen, former superintendent of a handful of area school districts died Monday night.

Draffen served as superintendent at Mad River Schools and Valley View Schools. Most recently he served as superintendent at Trotwood-Madison Schools. Draffen retired from that district in 2010.

Draffen became ill after eating food served at a July 3 customer appreciation picnic at Neff’s Lawn Care in Germantown. The outbreak has sickened at least 75 people, 14 of whom have been hospitalized. Eighteen cases have been lab-confirmed as E. coli O157 infection.

Two individuals remain in serious condition after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome — a 4-year-old girl and a 14-year-old male.

Picnicker dies after E. coli outbreak: wdtn.com

Child dies in New Orleans E. coli outbreak; 2 others sick

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The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals confirms that a New Orleans-area child diagnosed with E. coli has died. The agency is now trying to find the exact source of the toxic infections that also made two other people sick.

Touro family physician Dr. Meredith Maxwell says, "If you look at a hamburger and it’s really pink, you could be at increased risk for E. coli, so you need to make sure your hamburger meat is cooked through and through.”

 

Loophole, money concerns contributed to peanut death of student at fancy Melbourne school

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A prestigious Melbourne private school has been slammed by a coroner who found it directly responsible for the death of a student who was fed beef satay despite having a known peanut allergy.

The Sydney Morning Herald cited coroner Audrey Jamieson as saying Scotch College was ignorant of recently released guidelines on anaphylaxis and showed a lack of respect to people with dietary preferences or requirements when it gave 13-year-old Nathan Francis the meal that claimed his life.

Two other cadets with a peanut allergy had the same meal.

The boy’s mother had informed the school of his allergy before Nathan attended the annual college army cadet camp at the Wombat State Forest in March 2007.

The inquest heard Scotch College bought ration packs from the Australian Defence Force in a bid to save $39,000.

But because the packs are not sold to the public, and since people with allergies are not permitted to join the army, they were not subject to food labeling legislation.

"This lackadaisical approach to the distribution of the ration packs possibly represents a certain mindset about the ‘type’ of boy/man that should be in the army/army cadets, but at a minimum represents a lack of respect or prejudice towards those with dietary preferences and/or requirements," Ms Jamieson said.

"The systematic failures may have commenced at the level of the army, but whatever lay behind and drove the process of distribution, it lacked rigour at the Scotch College level and operated in a way without regard to the consequences.

"Scotch College failed to exercise reasonable care and attention to the medical and food allergy information provided and known to them at the time preparations were being made for the camp."

In a finding delivered on Friday, the coroner said Nathan’s death was directly related to the college’s failure to take reasonable steps to ensure the health and safety of the boys attending the cadet camp.

She said his death could have been prevented if the college had exercised reasonable care and attention.

Ms Jamieson said college staff at the camp had an unacceptable level of complacency towards student safety.

The inquest heard there was a 10-minute delay in Nathan receiving his EpiPen (allergy treatment injector) because a staff member felt "uncomfortable" administering it.

Outside court, Nathan’s father Brian thanked the coroner for her strong findings.

"To say Nathan’s death has devastated our lives is too simplistic and understates the horror that has torn through our family," he said.

"Scotch college could have so easily prevented Nathan’s death.

The family reached a confidential settlement with the school and the ADF following a Federal Court ruling that the army pay a $210,100 penalty over Nathan’s death.

US deaths from gastroenteritis double; need better norovirus protection for elderly

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The number of people who died from gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines that causes vomiting and diarrhea) more than doubled from 1999 to 2007, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings were presented today at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases in Atlanta.

CDC scientists used data from the National Center for Health Statistics to identify gastroenteritis-associated deaths from 1999 to 2007 among all age groups in the United States.
“Gastroenteritis is a major cause of death worldwide,” said lead author Aron Hall, D.V.M., M.S.P.H., of the CDC’s Division of Viral Diseases. “By knowing the causes of gastroenteritis-associated deaths and who’s at risk, we can develop better treatments and help health care providers prevent people from getting sick.”

Over the eight-year study period, gastroenteritis-associated deaths from all causes increased from nearly 7,000 to more than 17,000 per year. Adults over 65 years old accounted for 83 percent of deaths. Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and norovirus were the most common infectious causes of gastroenteritis-associated deaths.

Norovirus was associated with about 800 deaths annually, though there were 50 percent more deaths in years when epidemics were caused by new strains of the virus. Norovirus is highly contagious. It spreads through person-to-person contact and contaminated food, water, and surfaces. People can get norovirus illness throughout the year, but cases peaked between December-February. Norovirus causes more than 20 million illnesses annually, and it is the leading cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States.

“While C. difficile continues to be the leading contributor to gastroenteritis-associated deaths, this study shows for the first time that norovirus is likely the second leading infectious cause,” said Hall. “Our findings highlight the need for effective measures to prevent, diagnose, and manage gastroenteritis, especially for C. difficile and norovirus among the elderly.”

Four more cases of EHEC – E. coli O157 — in Hamburg

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Aerztezeitung.de is reporting that four more cases of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) have emerged in Hamburg, Germany, following the death of a 6-year-old girl last week.

An 11-year-old boy and a 3-year-old kindergartner tested positive earlier this week, and two women aged between 68 and 88 years were earlier diagnosed with EHEC. Tests have identified the strain as E. coli O157.