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Subscribe to RSSA 6-year-old Massachusetts boy has died after a mystery E. coli infection. WHDH-TV's Ryan Schulteis reports.
The death of a 6-year-old Massachusetts boy after a mystery E. coli infection continues to stump health officials searching for the source.
Owen Carrignan of Millbury died May 26 after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, the most serious complication of infection with dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria. The first-grader was infected with E. coli O157:H7, the strain most often associated with illnesses tied to ground beef.
But Owen didn’t appear to have contact with hamburger or other beef before he became ill starting around May 20, said Derek S. Brindisi, the Worcester, Mass., director of public health. In fact, it’s still not at all clear what made Owen sick.
“It’s primarily a foodborne illness pathogen,” noted Brindisi. “But it could be food, it could be a secondary exposure, a cross-contamination or exposure to another animal or person.”
Owen's mother, Michelle Carrignan, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that the boy spent the night at a friend's house. His father, Shawn Carrignan, separately said the boy ate a hot dog at a barbecue. But Brindisi said more recent interviews suggested that Owen already had symptoms before those events and that they were unlikely to be the cause.
After becoming ill, Owen quickly worsened, eventually developing kidney failure caused by HUS.
“It should never happen, you know? A 6-year-old boy full of life,” Todd Carrignan, Owen’s uncle, told WHDH, an NBC affiliate.
Before his death, Owen was a healthy, active boy with a bright smile who loved the outdoors, playing sports and wrestling with his sisters, a family memorial said.
On Monday, a team of local health officials, with advice from state epidemiologists, had expanded their investigation of Owen’s death, Brindisi said.
They’re looking closely at his diet throughout the month of May, not just in the one- to 10-day incubation period for E. coli O157:H7.
Food samples from retail venues, including stores and restaurants, that may have provided food that Owen ate are being examined at state laboratories, said Brindisi, who declined to identify the specific foods being tested.
E. coli O157:H7 causes about 36 percent of the 265,000 infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, known as STECs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Serious complications, such as HUS, are more common in children, the elderly and people with other health problems.
So far, there are no other reports of E. coli infection related to Owen’s, Brindisi said.
In many cases, the source of isolated E. coli infections is never detected. Only about 20 percent of E. coli cases are part of recognized outbreaks. Still Massachusetts health officials plan to exhaust all options.
“Each day, we learn new information,” Brindisi said.
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I wonder why the praying didn't work. Wait, it never does.
Religion, the biggest delusion known to mankind.
Charlie--don't be silly--ALL prayers are answered.
Just sometimes the answer is no.
Well said..........MOmaid....Eventually God brings us all to our knees.....Charlie Medina just has not
come to that point yet....delusional...thats funny .....I pray that Charlie....will one day see what he
is missing ...that void left unfilled in his life that has been crying out a long time......trying to do it all
by hisself.....One day he will DISCOVER and that LOAD is gonna be so much LIGHTER.....
Really people? Really? You want to discuss bacteria, viruses, vaccinations, food inc, veganism?? I have news for you. I have seen food inc. I have been vgan and am currently vegetarian and so are all four of my children, but when I read the article that isn't what came to my mind. My babies came to my mind! Have I hugged them enough? Have I told them how precios they are to me? The heart break of his family came to my mind! This is a child that this article is talking about! He was just a baby and he died a horrible death. Where is the sympathy? Where is the compassion. His family must be unbelievably heart broken and devastated! So to his family.... I am so so sorry for your loss! Your baby boy looks like a wonderful little boy! May he be resting in the arms of angels and may God give you peace in your time of sorrow! To everyone else. Please take the time today to hold the people you love a little closer. I know I will! Life is precious and fragile...
Its not that people do not have compassion for these people's devestaing loss,but if nothing is done or said about eliminating these outbreaks or getting our food supply safe,then this child died in vain.
lovinlife, E-coli has taken the life of vegetarians as well as beef eaters. E-coli is just as deadly in veggies and fruits as it is in beef, but your point is well taken. Nice post.
My son had e-coli when he was 1 week old. I asked the doctor if there was anything wrong when he seemed pale, but they said it was just his coloring. Not sure, he was paper white til he was 7 and started tanning normally. He finished a bottle and was put down for a nap. I went into the bath immediately after he fell asleep. Before I even started washing, my ex was yelling for me to get over to the baby. He was having difficulty breathing. I threw on a dress, while calling 911. I was put on hold and never got through. We threw my other son into his seat and I had to hold the baby in my arms, while my ex drove between 70 and 100 mph to the hospital. The whole time I had to blow into his mouth more times than I know. It seemed like forever. After fighting with the front desk, saying I will not stand in line and you will take him in now.A doctor walked in and assemble a large group around him. I was told if I had waited for an ambulance him would have died. He was started on medicine immediately. Noone ever spent a second questioning how he got it. I still wonder if that was the cause of his autism.
When I was young this sort of thing was unheard of,most of the meat in our supermarkets came from regional sources,same with our fruits and vegetables,local growers. In the 80s two things combined in my opinion to make our food supply more at risk,large corporations took over as the supplier of major fresh foods such as meats and vegetable's.Then with the election of Reagan federal agencies that inspected facilities were cut back on,leaving less manpower to go into these plants. Industry relied on paid contractors such as A.I.B. and others to certify there plants as safe,these companies would inspect a plant then offer a list of suggestions,the company would then draw up a policy based on this and A.I.B would use that as a guideline for inspections. A.I.B. lost credibility after the peanut butter plant in Blakely GA. which had held an A.I.B. superior rating for years had a salmonella outbreak. A.I.B. did what any company who lost credibility does in today's world they switched the inspection arm of the business to a different name,S.Q.F. which stands for Safe Quality Food. most Americans don't even realize that these practices go on,they are naive enough to think the U.S. government is doing these inspections. The worse thing is over 100 years ago we faced similar problems with our food supply,when Upton Sinclair wrote ," The Jungle" it caused public a outcry and ,The Pure Food and Drug act was passed. The problem now is the mass media of this country has grown so large and stories like this are forgotten in a few days,and lets face it Americans today have a stronger academic backround than previous generations but lack the free thought and common sense of their elders.
So sad, although I'm not blaming anyone,it just seems to me that deaths by E coli are on the increase when you would think we would have a better grasp of the factors leading to this and be more capable of completely stopping it. Let a man not get an erection and in less than a year there's a cure even 90 year olds can reap the benefits.
So very sad. My sympathy goes to the family & friends.
I hope they can determine the cause asap.
he's home now prasie jesus
What is also a concern is that no one will "comment" on the possible sources or how they are testing? That is part of the big problem...Why is'nt anyone upset by that? See plenty of people explaining about e coli, but not the fact that in reality KIDS EAT...now what are we suppose to SAFELY FEED them with all the secrecy? THIS IS WRONG.
Being a parent of three kids ages 6,8, and 13 1/2 yrs old...have they looked at his immunization records and tested the food inside the freezers of the parents and the friends he recently visited in which he ate the hot dog? Perhaps there is a different way of getting E-Coli from food that is fresh and may have been eaten after being out in the open air after 30min. I know when I worked for a fast food restaurant years ago, we were advised to discard any food or burgers that wasn't sold after sitting in the food bend more than 20min.
Everyone is an authority on these threads. What is really important is a child has died. That is a parents worst nightmare. This thread has turned it into a political, religous & vegan thing. There should be an independent organization, that isn't influenced by political, religous or the ranchers themselves. As long as they allow lobbyist to put pressure on these decision making process, we will get what they want. Not what's best for the consumer themselves. When outside pressure is allowed, votes are changed & paid for. The end result is we get a bad decision & lives are endnagered. My heart goes out to the parents, who have lost a child.
John Kay Holmgren
Just a quick note to my other notes for everyone. Please grow your own food, at least you'll know it is SAFE!
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Sorry but most of us would starve if we tried to grow our own food ... instead less fast food burgers and restaurant dining might be a better idea . Cooking your own food assures better sanitary conditions. Cook meat fish and poultry to the proper temperatures. Washing fruits and veggies before eating them. Keeping a clean kitchen not cross contaminating cutting utensils used to cut raw meats then using them to cut veggies. Don't use wooden cutting boards. Proper and prompt refrigeration of foods and left over foods and the most important thing you can do WASH YOUR HANDS WASH YOUR HANDS WASH YOUR HANDS !! Teach your young children how to wash their hands starting at potty training set the example hopefully it will become a life long healthy habit.