Tag Archives: Sick

‘Razors in my stomach’ The human face of Harvey’s E. coli outbreak

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Steve Carleton dubbed himself "Number 6" because when he was overcome with fierce stomach cramps last week and admitted to a northern Ontario hospital, health-care workers started numbering the beds.

While he jokes now that he "beat the rush," the 22-year-old North Bay police constable turns serious when recalling his bout with E. coli during an outbreak that, as of Sunday, may have sickened upwards of 159 people, mostly in his home town.

"It was like I had razor blades rolling around in my stomach, it was so excruciating," Carleton said.

"The pains were enough (that) you couldn’t stay in bed or sit down, because you’d sit down and it’d hit you again and you’d be up and it’d give you that urge and you’d have to run to the washroom again."

Carleton spent four, IV-drip-fuelled days recovering in hospital. He said he had earlier eaten a bacon cheeseburger at one of the busiest Harvey’s restaurants in the area.

"I consider myself pretty fit, and a healthy all around person," said Carleton, who exercises several times a week. "I couldn’t imagine an elderly person, or even a young child, being able to fight their way through it."

Quebec cheese linked to two deaths, one miscarriage, 120 illnesses — gets government bailout

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I was a fan of Quebec agriculture minister Laurent Lessard.

After two separate outbreaks  — one listeria, one salmonella – in Quebec-made cheese that killed two, caused one miscarriage, sickened six other pregnant women and their newborn babies, and sickened a total of about 120 people, Lessard ordered a crackdown.

When asked about compensation for cheese retailers who had to discard potentially contaminated product, Lessard said on Sept. 17,

"The province is not there to compensate. We aren’t an insurance company."

Retailers have a responsibility to market safe products, and if there’s a risk associated to what they’re selling they have to absorb the losses, he said.

But being astute about Quebec politics and the role of dairy producers, Lessard didn’t rule out possible compensation for cheese producers, even though provincial food inspectors found traces listeria in 16 different establishments, either on cheese or processing equipment.

Three weeks later, and it appears that politics has caught up with the public health overtures of Monsieur Lessard as he announced Friday that Quebec’s small cheese producers and retailers will receive a three-year, $8.4-million provincial aid package, along with $11.3-million in interest-free loans.

"I want to reassure Quebec consumers. All of Quebec’s cheese producers are presently offering safe and secure products.”

Approximately half of the aid package will be spent on improving quality control. Government inspections will be conducted monthly, the minister said, and retailers will receive guidelines on improving the handling of cheeses.

Producers and retailers reported a significant drop in sales of Quebec cheeses, which last year alone totaled $2.6-billion.

Where’s the compensation for the sick people? Where’s the effort to accurately present the risks of soft cheeses (oh, and deli meats) to certain populations, like pregnant women and the elderly.

I’m not such a fan anymore.

Georgetown outbreak: Emergency so backed up there was ‘vomiting in the waiting room’

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Molly Redden of the Georgetown Voice in Washington, D.C. does an excellent job going beyond the soundbites of talking health-heads to capture the impact of foodborne illness, in the case on a bunch of university students who dined at Leo O’Donovan Cafeteria or Leo’s.

At least 96 students were treated by the Georgetown University Hospital or the Student Health Center for gastroenteritis from Tuesday night and Wednesday. …

Neil McGroarty (NHS `12), arrived at the emergency room at around 10:30 p.m., only hours after eating a roast beef sandwich from Grab N’ Go. He said within hours of arriving at the Hospital, the emergency room was backed up to the point that students who weren’t receiving medical attention began vomiting in the waiting room.

“I know that some people in the waiting room had been there for three hours. There was a boy yelling ‘help me, help me!’ but there were no doctors,” Kathrin Verestoun (SFS `11), who accompanied her roommate to the emergency room, said. “They ran out of rooms and set up stretchers in the hall. Some people were so dehydrated that they couldn’t find their veins for IVs. They were just bleeding. [My roommate] bled all over her stretcher.” …

A Food Establishment Inspection Report obtained by the Voice through a Freedom of Information Act request reveals that in June, the D.C. Bureau of Community Hygiene determined that Leo’s’ handwashing facilities were not up to code, although this was “corrected on-site.” According to the report, sinks used for handwashing in the service area lacked handsoap. …

The actual number of students who have fallen ill may be far higher than reported. Interviews have revealed that many students who fell ill did not get medical help, like Katie O’Niell (COL `11), who began to vomit about three hours after eating a burrito at Leo’s.

“I didn’t feel like I could make it any further than from my bed to the bathroom,” she said.

Georgetown University dining hall closed; dozens of students barfing and crapping show up at Emergency last night

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Amy and I went for lunch today in the student union. Nothing fancy, the salad fixin’s were reasonably priced, and the food selection was a lot better than when I was a student – way back in the old days, like on the Flintstones, with humans and dinosaurs playing together.

Any food service operation is vulnerable to foodborne illness, but the university ones have been popping up regularly of late – Guelph, Michigan State, and now, Georgetown in Washington, D.C.

Georgetown University closed its dining hall today after dozens of students went to the emergency room last night with symptoms of severe vomiting and diarrhea.

A call from an emergency room doctor at Georgetown University Hospital at about 12:30 a.m. today alerted campus officials that many students were being treated for symptoms that could indicate a foodborne illness, said university spokeswoman Julie Bataille.

She said officials are not sure yet of the number of students, but it could be dozens. About 5,000 students participate in the campus meal plan and eat at the Leo J. O’Donovan Dining Hall, which most students call Leo’s. The dining hall serves about 3,000 meals daily.

In an e-mail to the campus community today, Todd A. Olson, vice president for student affairs, announced that as a precaution the university had decided to close the dining hall and that breakfast would be served in a lounge on campus and that lunch and dinner would be served at the student center.

New food was delivered this morning, Bataille said, and health officials are now on campus taking samples and investigating the situation.
 

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.

10 Michigan State students sickened with persistent bloody diarrhea; 7 still in hospital, doc says it ‘isn’t serious’

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Six weeks after an outbreak of E. coli O157 associated with food service at the University of Guelph – will a report ever be issued – Michigan State University officials were told on Monday Sept. 15, 2008, that 10 students had become ill and sought help over the past several days for persistent symptoms of bloody diarrhea.

University Physician Beth Alexander said the illness was likely caused by a certain strain of E. coli and that although only two of the cases have been linked to the same strain of bacteria, the remaining eight cases could be linked within the week.

Alexander added,

“Generally, the infection isn’t serious. It’s usually caused by food or water that has been contaminated with that bacteria.”

I’m not sure at what point shiga-toxin producing E. coli and its tell-tale bloody diarrhea isn’t serious. The people of Locust Grove, OK, with their 314 illnesses, including 65 children, and one death, related to an outbreak of E. coli O111 probably think it is serious. So do the kids with blood coming out of their asses in Michigan.
 
Investigators are determining where and when the students ate based on swipes of their MSU ID cards in campus cafeterias and eateries. That information should be available today and will help determine whether something exists in the food supply that may still be a threat.
 

Maple Leaf cold-cuts confirmed as listeria source in Canada: at least 5 dead, dozens ill

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Canwest News Service is first out of the block, citing a senior government official as saying Saturday that testing has confirmed that an outbreak of listeriosis that has claimed at least four lives – and probably several more — across Canada has now been positively linked to processed meats produced at Maple Leaf Consumer Foods.

Earlier Saturday, the Public Health Agency of Canada upped to 21 the number of cases of a deadly listeriosis outbreak that have been confirmed so far in four provinces. The agency said in a statement that 16 of the cases were found in Ontario, three in British Columbia, and one each in Saskatchewan and in Quebec.
Three deaths in Ontario – St. Catharines, Hamilton and Waterloo – have been officially tied to the deadly strain of the food-borne listeria bacterium, and a fourth death on Vancouver Island has also been attributed to the strain.

The public health agency also said a further 30 suspected cases remain under investigation. Of those, 14 are in Ontario, eight are in Quebec, four are in Alberta and two each are in B.C. and Saskatchewan.

So, with the positive ID, will Canadian politicians and bureaucrats keep smugly bragging about their wonderful system for foodborne disease surveillance?

It’s impossible to tell from the various public statements who became sick when, and whether the system really worked or not. If you’re going to brag about how the system is working, you have to provide dates for onset of illness and deaths. Those dates have not been provided. Take a look at the updates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control concerning the Salmonella Saintpaul outbreak and compare that with what comes out of various Canadian agencies. There is no comparison.

Tell the public what you know, what you don’t know, and what you’re doing to find out more.
 

5 sickened by raw milk in Washington

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The Whatcom County Health Department announced Monday that five people were sickened by the the same campylobacter jejuni strain found in raw milk that was recalled last month from Pleasant Valley Dairy.

The dairy pulled that batch of milk from the shelves and has resumed its distribution of raw milk.

The health department said the dairy has changed its testing procedures to reduce the risk of releasing contaminated milk.

A table of raw milk  outbreaks is available at http://www.foodsafety.ksu.edu/articles/384/RawMilkOutbreakTable.pdf

What to do if food has made you poop or barf

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An employee at the Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine brought me a present the other day: a bag of salad that apparently had a big wad of mud in it. Or was it poop? Smelled like mud.

She wasnt sickened by the food, but if you think a specific food has made you sick, here’s what to do:

• go to the doctor if necessary;

• keep the food, in the fridge or freezer if necessary; and,

• contact your local health department.

Bill Marler’s got some more specific guidelines here.

Serving tainted turkey may not improve employee relations

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The Chicago Tribune reports that a goodwill gesture by United Airlines backfired Thursday when a Thanksgiving spread that United had bought for thousands of workers at O’Hare International Airport turned out to have dangerous turkey that sickened at least five employees.

Megan McCarthy, a United spokeswoman, was cited as saying the entire meal for one of the day-shift crews was dumped Thursday morning after staff discovered that the "turkey was not edible."

Management gave the airport employees $10 gift certificates for the airports’ food vendors to make up for the loss of the meal.