“I don’t know what to feed them anymore. We don’t know if the diseases came from fruit, as it was originally said, or from cheese and milk, as it was said these days. Maybe it’s from water, who knows? And what should I do? What should I feed her? I’m afraid for her! I don’t even know if I should get another vaccine, I saw that on the Internet it says that the vaccine could have been to blame “, he confessed to us a mother from Pitesti.
To support my parents, I asked these legitimate questions Dr. Catalin Apostolescu, primary care physician at Matei Bals Institute of Infectious Diseases.
Someone didn’t wash their hands
First of all, I asked Dr. Apostolescu to say what the sources of contamination with E.coli can be and how we can all avoid the disease.
“Absolutely any food can be contaminated with Escherichia coli and not only with it. The source of germs is the human intestine (colon, hence the name ‘coli’). The presence of E.coli in water is a marker of faecal water contamination.
How does E.coli get into food? By non-compliance with strict hygiene in food preparation – from harvesting / slaughter, processing, storage, sale, preparation and even administration. That means it exists someone who did not wash their hands properly after going to the toilet. Including the parents who fed the respective children must be taken into account “, said Dr. Catalin Apostolescu, referring to the identification of the causes that led to the infection with E.coli of the children hospitalized at Marie Curie.
The doctor also stated that the number of diseases registered in the last weeks in Arges county (62) is “quite small from an epidemiological point of view”.
“Especially if we take into account that those children have acute diarrheal diseases with other etiologies (rotavirus, enteroviruses, etc.). Not everyone has E.coli. It should be noted that at the age of less than 1 year, diarrheal disease is a very common pathology“Because children are now learning to react to food and the germs in it,” he added.
Babies infected with E.coli: A child discharged from “Marie Curie” returned to the hospital
Water, fruit or milk?
Regarding the exact establishment of the source / sources of illness in the case of the little ones who arrived at the Marie Curie Hospital, Dr. Catalin Apostolescu stated that it is difficult to find them accurately, and we may never find them. .
“It is difficult to determine what food all these children ate together. If the source had been water or fruit, we would have had a higher number of cases and not just at such young ages. Likewise, if the water was to blame, the cases would have been BUNDLES around the water source.
The cases were distributed relatively randomly in Arges County and there were also cases in Dolj County (in Craiova) and in Bucharest. I suppose we should look for that food that is consumed exclusively by babies or in large proportion only by them. Food that can be fresh or, more likely, preserved.
It is difficult to give a verdict like ‘cow’s cheese’, for here it is not the cheese as such, but a certain way, from a certain producer. Also, even identified such a manufacturer, the product cannot be incriminated as such, but just a certain batch.
If it is a product of wider use (which has been consumed by other people of other ages), it is possible that the bacterial load is very low and only the most sensitive babies will get the disease, and the rest will not be infected. have no effect.
It is equally possible that such a lot has already been exhausted to never find out cause, “Dr. Apostolescu told us.
HYGIENE. HYGIENE. HYGIENE
Under these conditions, what should we give children to eat to reduce the risk of E.coli disease?
“Children should be fed pediatric according to age, but in principle, food should be freshly prepared and eaten on the day of preparation. It is not good to keep baby food overnight (even in the fridge). My advice for parents parents is: HYGIENE. HYGIENE. HYGIENE “, stressed the doctor.
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What’s the alarm signal?
Although diarrheal disease is common among young children, certain symptoms need to be treated with the utmost care by parents.
“Any child who has more than 3 diarrhea stools in a day and who, in addition, has a fever, colic, refusal to eat, vomiting should see a doctor (general practitioner, pediatrician, infectionist).
Only he can determine if it is a mild or severe form of the disease. The signs of dehydration must trigger the alarm signal – eyes clogged in orbits, depressed fontanelle, lazy skin fold, drowsiness, apathy, oliguria (decreased urine volume, ed.) “, Underlined Catalin Apostolescu.
Vaccine rumor, an aberration
Because the causes that led to this large number of E.coli infections in such a short time are not clarified at all, rumors have appeared on the Internet that this case is also related to the vaccines that some of the young patients have. he would have done them before he got sick, especially with the polio vaccine.
Dr. Catalin Apostolescu categorically denies this possibility, categorizing it as an “aberration”.
“Such a question / statement / rumor in the 21st century shows a shocking ignorance. Mankind has not yet invented a better means of fighting disease than vaccines. The number of lives saved by vaccination far exceeds the number of lives saved by all other advances in medicine combined.
The principle of vaccination involves the administration of a fragment of dangerous germs that causes the production in the body of specific antibodies strictly against that germ, so that when we meet the real germs, the body reacts promptly and specifically, so as not to cause the disease. or to make a light, non-life-threatening or sequelae-free form.
As for the polio vaccine, a legend is being prepared and distorted. The polio vaccine used in sec. XX had a live, attenuated virus, administered orally and which, if not kept in proper condition, could reactivate and produce polio. Even so, it was a very safe vaccine. Since 2000, according to the WHO (World Health Organization), the polio vaccine with the killed virus, administered by injection, has been used. It is, therefore, very clear that the rumor related to this vaccine is an aberration “, the doctor underlined.
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