September 13, 2023
The number of E. coli infections linked to Calgary-area daycares could continue to rise, a doctor warns, potentially expanding the outbreak that’s already believed to be the largest of its kind in Canada involving children under five.
Dr. Stephen Freedman, an emergency physician at Alberta Children’s Hospital, said the illness could continue to spread in affected households and parents should ensure infected children wash their hands regularly so feces are not left on bathroom surfaces or elsewhere, potentially infecting others.
“Unfortunately, if their stool is shedding bacteria and there is a breakdown in hand hygiene procedures in the house, that can lead to somebody else getting it onto their hands and into their mouth. And hence the infection because it does not take a lot of this bacteria to cause symptomatic infection,” Freedman said.
Read more: https://globalnews.ca/news/9959152/e-coli-0157-explained/