E coli HUS in Indiana Girl May Have Stemmed from Rush County Fair
The mother of 4-year-old Kathleen Ragan told an Indianapolis television station that her daughter is severely ill with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after touching animals at the Rush County Fair.
Angel Campbell-Ragan told 24 Hour News8 TV that Kathleen has been sick with an E. coli infection and HUS for almost three weeks and has at least 10 more days of kidney dialysis ahead of her..jpg)
The family used hand sanitizers at the county fair, but Kathleen's mother said her daughter is in the habit as a little girl to chew on her fingertips. She said her child may have ingested E. coli bacteria that was caught under her fingernails.
No outbreak has been announced by the Indiana State Department of Health, but a spokesman for the agency reminded families that animal fairs are a common transmission source for pathogens that animals shed in their manure.
HUS is a life-threatening condition in which the body’s blood-clotting mechanisms are altered, causing blocked circulation or bleeding in the brain or kidneys. Children under 5 are most likely of any age group to develop HUS, but it can harm individuals of any age.
Law firm Pritzker Olsen has years of experience representing families whose children are stricken by HUS, sometimes as a result of food poisoning and other times from animal fairs. Our experience is that children and adults often suffer long-term medical consequences, and not just with their kidneys. Strokes, heart problems, anemia, brain damage, paralysis and central nervous system damage are possible consequences.
To contact an HUS attorney at our firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this web site. Over the years we have collected millions for our clients and we are actively involved as a firm in efforts to prevent outbreaks of E. coli and other pathogens.
