Meredith Porter, MD is a board certified family physician with 22 years of clinical experience and a lead physician for Inova Urgent Care. Inova Urgent Care centers are open seven days a week – including holidays, except Christmas Day – and treat walk-in patients of all ages. Select centers offer specialized pediatric care where staff is cross-trained in pediatric emergency medicine. Click here to learn more about Inova Children’s Urgent Care services.
On November 20, 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a romaine lettuce advisory warning to consumers, stores, and restaurants to throw away, stop selling, and/or serving all romaine lettuce. The nationwide romaine lettuce recall includes all types of romaine lettuce:
If romaine lettuce is at home, the CDC also advises thorough washing and cleaning of storage areas after disposal. Here’s what you need to know about the recall and E. Coli infections.
Public health officials are following multiple reports of illnesses across eleven states and Canada during the month of October 2018, caused by the bacteria Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O157:H7 (STEC).
According to the CDC, 32 Americans and 18 Canadians have become ill. Nearly half of the U.S. cases required hospitalization and one person developed kidney problems. The CDC has linked the likely infection source as romaine lettuce.
Often, people use the terms “stomach flu” or “stomach bug” to describe the symptoms related to food-borne illnesses like E. Coli. They can include:
For most people, the symptoms start 3 to 4 days after eating or drinking something containing E. coli. But for some, the illness could start as early as 1 day, or up to 10 days, after exposure. Most infected people are sick for less than 5 days and symptoms tend to be very mild. But, for others, the symptoms can be more severe – even life-threatening – and cause hospitalization.
One possible complication of this type of E. coli infection, occurring in 5-10% of cases, involves injury to the kidneys. This is referred to as Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome or HUS. As the diarrhea improves (usually around day 7 of the illness), people may notice these additional symptoms:
E. coli O157:H7 is found through a stool culture. Your doctor can order the stool test, if needed. Stool testing can help find the cause of diarrheal infections and identify outbreaks. Other common causes for foodborne illnesses include:
Unfortunately, antibiotics are not recommended for treating E. coli O157 infections and they shouldn’t be started if this type of infection is suspected. Antibiotics haven’t shown to help with this particular strain of E. coli infection and may actually increase the chance of having serious kidney problems, or HUS.
Prevention is the best first step to fighting illnesses spread through food sources. Safe handling and preparing of food can help prevent infections. However, if you contract a foodborne illness like E.coli, treatment of the symptoms is most important. Here are some helpful tips to consider:
E. coli O157:H7 strain does not normally live in human intestines. The bacteria can be found in about 1% of healthy beef cattle intestines and can contaminate meat during processing or other food products. E. coli infections have also been reported from other food and environmental sources:
Food sources:
Environmental sources:
Remember, prevention is the best first step to fighting illnesses spread through food sources. Click here to view safe handling and food preparation tips from the USDA to help prevent infections.
Inova Urgent Care wishes you and your family a peaceful and safe holiday season.
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An excellent coverage of this problem.