Beware of Secondary E. coli O157:H7
Researchers in Scotland found that 11 percent of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses reported from 1999-2008 were attributable to secondary, or person-to-person, spread, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
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The study covered 2,228 E. coli O157:H7 infections and found that secondary cases of infection are just as prone to result in life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), as primary cases. Researchers reported that the mean (midpoint) percentage of HUS developing in case patients was 11 percent..
As previously reported many times in this blog by food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., transmission of E. coli O157:H7 to humans requires only a low infectious dose of bacteria. That's a major reason for why so many people are sickened by exposure to others who are infected.
The Scotland study said the results indicated that E. coli O157:H7 patients need immediate advice about infection control in the home, accompanied by immediate stool sampling and monitoring. And not just for primary or index cases, but also for their contacts. "We must continually raise professional and public awareness of secondary spread,'' the CDC summary of the research said.
