Date
Published: Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Source of Article: http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/3715
The Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) has
just confirmed that the number of people hospitalized as part of that state’s
growing “severe illness outbreak” has now reached 38; dozens more have reported
being sick. Yesterday we reported that one man—26-year-old Chad Ingle—died
as a result of the outbreak, which has yet to be identified. Ingle was
discharged from
OSDH officials continue to investigate the source
of the outbreak and if it is related to E.
coli bacteria. OSDH did confirm
that many of those who fell ill ate at the Country Cottage restaurant in Locust
Grove. Despite this, OSDH maintains that it is still to
soon to confirm the source. Meanwhile, Country Cottage passed a weekend
inspection, according to health officials. The restaurant voluntarily
closed yesterday. The ill come include residents from the Bixby,
Because so many patients are reporting symptoms of
food poisoning along with a very severe and bloody form of diarrhea, experts
believe that a very virulent, sometimes deadly, strain of E. coli is to blame;
however, other food borne illnesses are also being reviewed. Officials
will be unable to confirm the source of the bacteria and its strain until
laboratory test results are received. It is unclear when these results
are expected.
Escherichia coli is a relatively common bacteria
found in the human digestive tract and is normally harmless; however, some
strains, including those linked to food poisoning, such as E coli O157:H7, are
very serious and can cause fatal blood poisoning, cystitis, deadly septicemia,
and death. In food poisoning outbreaks involving E. Coli,
the deadly E coli strain O157:H7 is generally always the culprit. In the
Scientists have expressed serious concern that
infections from antibiotic resistant E. coli bacteria are spreading into the
greater population and several countries also now report cases of
antibiotic-resistant E. coli. Researchers compare the E. coli threat to the
worldwide problem of community-acquired MRSA—methicillin-resistant
Staphylococcus aureus—an antibiotic-resistant staph
developing resistance to the last drug of choice.
In addition to the spread of E. coli and the
growing resistance of the infection to traditional medications, emerging data
confirms that the negative health effects of E. coli can remain for months and
years later. It was believed that once we recover from a food-related
contamination that we are healed and the illness is gone. According to
recent research, these illnesses can have long-term, lasting effects that can
either linger for months or years or can show up months or years after the
original illness was seemingly resolved. As part of their studies, researchers
found that some children who suffered severe cases of E. coli developed health
problems later in life, such as kidney problems, high blood pressure, and
kidney failure; the health problems appeared as late as 10 to 20 years later.
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