Date: 07/17/98
Georgia public health officials have confirmed two more cases of E. coli O157:H7 in children who attended White Water Recreation Park. One child from Texas and one from Georgia (Cherokee County) were at the park on June 18, 1998. Neither child is hospitalized.
The two new cases were being followed by Public Health, but laboratory tests were not final until this week. A case previously reported from Forsyth County has now been removed from the list following further lab testing that did not confirm E. coli. Seventeen cases have been confirmed in Georgia and nine from out of state, bringing the total number to 26.
Cases are tied to exposure at White Water during June 11, 12, 17 and 18th. Possible explanations for the multiple days of exposure include four fecal accidents at the park and/or two fecal accidents with high concentrations of bacteria at the park on the 11th and 17th with some residual contamination on the following days, June 12 and 18th.
Though Public Health is continuing to investigate a few more potential cases, none are children who were at the park after June 18th. "We have no evidence of any exposures other than the ones we've been tracking from June 11-18," says Paul Blake, M.D., epidemiologist for the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR). If your child was at White Water during that time and has not shown symptoms, there is no cause for concern. The incubation period of one to nine days is over."
DHR Public Health Director Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., reminds parents not to take a sick child to a public pool. "Although proper chlorination greatly reduces the risk of infection, even the best chlorination system cannot totally protect against a high concentration of bacteria," she says.
Dirty Public Pool Spreads Deadly E.coli
To Six Small Children
By June Preston (Reuters)
A contaminated paddling pool at a suburban Atlanta water park was blamed Tuesday for an outbreak of E.coli infection that has hospitalized at least eight young children in three states. `It appears it was transmitted through contaminated water,'' Georgia Public Health Director Kathleen Toomey told a news conference. A child may have been infected and had an accident in the pool.''
Toomey said the outbreak was traced to a recreation park in Marietta, Georgia, 15 miles (24 km) north of Atlanta. Four of the hospitalized children suffered kidney failure, and two remained in critical condition Tuesday. Toomey said five children hospitalized in Georgia were at the park on June 11 or 12, 1998 as were two children from Tennessee and one from South Carolina also diagnosed with E.coli infection. A sixth Georgia case appeared unrelated. She said all of the E.coli cases tied to the park were among children 6 years old or younger.
One of the children who suffered kidney failure was 3-year-old Brody Weiss, the son of Atlanta Braves shortstop Walt Weiss. He was in serious condition Tuesday at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital and was being treated with dialysis, a respirator and blood transfusions.
Weiss said his son initially appeared to have some kind of bug ``but blood started showing up in his bowel movements and by Thursday he was just passing pure blood from his bowels.'' E.coli bacteria are killed by chlorine, and Toomey said experts believed the pool may not have received adequate chlorine treatment.
She said an incontinent youngster could have spread E.coli bacteria in the pool. ``It is important to tell your child not to go to the bathroom in a pool,'' Toomey said. ``And more important, if your child has a diarrheal condition, do not take them to a water park.''
A confirmed fatality
A little girl named Michele died as a result of exposure to E. coli at the recreation park in Marietta, Georgia. In response, the Georgia legislature is considering a bill to be called "Michele's Law" strengthening the regulations pertaining to public pools, spas and waterparks.
I wonder how many accidents it takes for water to be contaminated enough to affect a child this way? I really never had any idea that this could be such a hazard!
