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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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Why in the world won't people COOK their meat? Scriptures plainly tell you to NOT eat blood.
What?
Well, hell, then...if Scriptures say it, it must be true...
(sarc)
Uh, okay, all you snarky commentators... I'm NOT religious (I'm an atheist, actually) but most of these food taboos and other cleanliness rules from ancient religions, in fact, reflect sound medical practice, at least given the knowledge and technology available at the time they were imposed. The Jewish and Muslim prohibition on pork? Easy, trichinosis (identified and explained by one of my ancestors, btw). But, without microbiology to tell them what the problem was and how to avoid it, a ban on eating pork was actually a good idea. Shellfish (something banned in Leviticus)? A lot of these are scavengers (crabs, lobsters) which bio-accumulate toxins from their food and the rest are "filter feeders" who suck up every nasty thing in the water. At a time when people routinely relieved themselves in the same waters they fished, it kinda made sense to tell folks not to eat the mussels. Even things like circumcision, still practiced as a religious rite amongst Jews, has a cleanliness/disease prevention purpose, one which was widely recognized (and practiced) in this country even by non-Jews up until the 1960's when "natural" became the rage and circumcision went from being a useful, medical prophylactic to being "mutilation". As our knowledge continues to increase, however, a number of doctors are, once again, recommending circumcision (reduced risk of sexually transmitted diseases, reduced risk of cancer, etc.). And, of course, we now know a lot more about (and are dealing with a lot more) blood borne pathogens and the Biblical prohibition against "eating blood" (or otherwise taking it in) suddenly doesn't look so absurd anymore (I doubt that any Jehovah's Witnesses contracted AIDS from a transfusion, tho' thousands of Americans did get it that way).
SO, yeah, being in Scripture does not make an injunction or prohibition automatically right and reasonable, but neither does it make it wrong or unreasonable.
I'll give you that, oldefarte...
Well, heck, then I sure hope you don't eat shrimp, lobster, clams, crawdads et all, because the Bible tells you not to eat THEM either. Hope you don't like Pork, or DEER either. Or rump roasts.
I am very sorry for the loss of these people's son. I too have fear that my children may get sick. Last weekend my daughter came home from a camping trip with her friends throwing up and diarrhea my first thought was e-coli or samonilla. I quizzed the family on foods she ate which was chicken and junk food (of course). I watched her closely and called the dr. She had no fever or anything but thankfully the next day she was fine. Must have been too much junk food. It is scary for all.
Those of you promoting small farms and organic and what not, is all fine and dandy but the difference is the price. If they would reduce the cost of non-chemical foods more people would buy it im sure. Eggs cost me $1.89 for 18 eggs organic eggs or cage free eggs cost $3.29 for 12. I can't afford that. The same with meat and fruit and veggies. That is another reason there are more overweight people now than ever, healthy food cost 2 to 3x more than unhealthy food and fills you up longer. I'm far from overweight and so are my children but that is because I can't afford cable tv or video game stuff, we play outside. But I do buy the cheaper foods which have higher fat and sodium in them.
My 2 year old son just left the hospital after being there for over 2 weeks for HUS. My son doesn't eat meat and wasn't near a petting zoo, so we too don't know how he got it either. He also went into kidney failure, but after several blood transfusions his kidney levels got better. My heart breaks for this family.
So very sorry to read you have been thru this nightmare too. Blessings sent your way.
I'd look closely at the hot dog- we made them from scratch years ago in Culinary school. 75% fat and the "real meat" is what normally should be thrown away. I have a couple of brands I use, but I simply don't trust the others.
Did the child go into a swimming pool with the wrong alkaline level? That should be investigated a well. I just read an article on that this morning...how a person can be exposed to e-coli bacteria if the pool has improper levels of alkaline. Just investigate for what it is worth. Then we could rule that out!
RIP Owen and God bless this family. I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't imagine the devastation of loosing a child. My prayers are with you.
The Tea Party and Republicans have said they want to get rid of the FDA and OSHA and all regulations on food safety. So, vote them in and watch the carnage.
Oh just stop, really.
WHT--right. so you think the FDA and Osha are doing such a bang up job? Not against regulations, but when our president says he's going to let all the "good illegals" get away with it, and when the regulatory agencies do NOT do what they are supposed to do until (often) it is too late, I guess the example has been set.
Remember that coal mine collapse in (?0 W Va?) PUB owner. (and a nut from what I read.) The problem is, two different administrations sat back and didn't enforce the laws he broke or the penalties that were levied against him.
Ditto the BP Oil spill--All BUSH's fault, right? Except the Obama admin ALSO didn't do the inspections they were supposed to do EITHER.
You can't BLAME one party. You CAN expect accountablity or cut the money.
Tea Party wants no regulations
Do you really think this story is about politics? Get a life. You need to hang out with Rodger post#7
What a heartbreaking story. Blessings to little Owen and to his family and friends for what they have been through and the days ahead.
It is truly a shame about the young kid. The biological world is changing all the time and hopefully researchers can figure this out quickly. Not everything can be predicted and some people die before medicine can respond.
Is the return of small pox and other diseases come into USA by illegal immigrants from countries that have no health standards?
It's resistance due to overprescription of anti-biotics>
Really??? Illegal immigrants??? It is the people grown HERE that refuse vaccines and disbelieve science..
Small pox will not return unless it is through bioterrorism or an accident in one of only two laboratories in the world. It has been erradicated, and the last cases were in, I believe, 1980 through a lab accident.
Did you know that Taco Bell can't open an outlet south of the border because their meat doesn't meet Mexican standards? Aspartame is banned throughout Europe because in the human digestive tract it breaks down into formalin, a known carcinogen, & methanol, a nerve posion & contaminant in moonshine that's killed & blinded thousands of people? Did you know visitors from other countries are advised to avoid drinking U.S. tap water due to the toxic chemicals, & to prepare their own food from scratch due to the carcinogens used to color, flavor, & preserve pre-packaged food?
So what has the FDA done for you lately?
No, Taco bell is not allowed in Mexico because there they have REAL Mexican food!! And aspartame is NOT banned in Europe...and it id NOT metabolized to formalin.
Methanol is also a metabolite of regular sugar.
all the beef in every school, every fast food establishment, every institutional facility, most supermarkets and most restaurants comes from cafo's...in these "factory farms"the animals never see the light of day, can't move around are fed loads and loads of antibiotics are fed government subsidized corn which is not good for them and are standing around in their own waste. It is a miracle that more people aren't dying from e-coli in the US.
Hey Kidz,
You missed the next step. Phenylalanine breaks down into formalin & other formaldehyde chemicals, which are all carcinogenic. Methanol is the infamous "wood alcohol", killler of many moonshine drinkers.
Aspartame is banned in England, France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, all the Scandanavian countries, & Portugal. I don't know about Greece, Spain, Italy & eastern Europe, but what do you want to bet?
cafo's...contained animal feeding operations....they need to be shut down and banned.
You really stop and think before you start recommending that all feedlots for cattle and other livestock be shut down. The world, as well as this country is over populated. There is no feasible way to feed them by each producer going "all natural" or feeding only grass. As for your comment about antibiotics being "poured" into the livestock, that is simply ignorant. Would you rather eat the meat from sick cattle or from ones that were given antiobiotics for minor illnesses. One of the most common used antibiotics is tetracycline. Also, not all beef producers are "factory farmers". A lot of us are 4th and 5th generation ranchers and farmers, just trying to make a living by feeding others.
In 1776, it took 19 farmers to feed themselves and one other person. In 1945, farmers and ranchers could feed themselves plus 18 other people. Now, each farmer and rancher feeds 155 people, and if you don't count hobby farms (people who don't make their entire income from agriculture) it is closer to 400 people.
Tetracycline was developed in 1949, and was taken when a scientist was taking soil samples and was able to isolate the bacteria that created tetracycline. It's a naturally occurring antibiotic. Penicillin comes from mold. We've used tetracycline for about 60 years and guess what, it still works, with no side affects for humans who consume meat from an animal that was given the antibiotic.
Gina--AMEN on the CAFO's. I live in Central MO and my hometown has a Tyson plant, and all around the town within 45 miles are CAFO's, and at times you have to pinch your nose shut driving down State highways in the area because of the smell.. They are 'allowed' by law to dump the 'excrement' EIGHT inches deep. But no one wades out into the middle of the field to check, and they are notorious for spreading a new layer when there is a forecast for rain. SAY, there's an idea for how E coli could be spread.
Tyson is ALSO always getting cited for FISH kills for dumping by products in the local streams.
And many of the workers there are illegals, and their kids now make up almost 1/6 of the students in our schools.
Why would you want the government to police the food industry? The food industry can police itself. All of you big government liberals are just job killers. If business has to follow regulations, it will have to pay more and their profit will go down. They will then have to reduce their work force. C'mon, who knows food better, the food industry or the government? Silly people.
And of course the industry will put our well being ahead of their profit margins.
Its a very sad case. But, reality is the E.Coli isn't limited to just food. The kid was 6 years old. Kids that age are constantly touching things, everything and they put their hands everywhere, including their mouths. He could have easily picked it up from soil, dirty water, anything that was contaminated with it and subsequently, touched his food with dirty hands or put his dirty hands in his mouth, etc. Not sure why this is a big mystery.
Hi Blood,
We've got to find the source so the next 6 year old to come along doesn't stick it into his mouth.
There seems to be a ground swell among medical practitioners today, reversing the attitude of 'limited antibiotic usage' and most of us feel that it is about time...
When powerful antibiotics -- like Chloromycetin, for instance -- are reserved for use primarily by the veterinary community and withheld from human patients; when even simple and effective topical antiseptics -- like Merthiolate, for instance -- are taken off the market because someone has 'realized' that they are poisonous if taken internally, then we are going to see much infectious activity within our population which was not there earlier.
It is time for the FDA `to adopt a newer, more creative approach to the problem of controlling infectious processes. Right now physicians and RN's prescribe antibiotics by 'the seat of their pants' without relying upon the results of a bacterial sensitivity test which would indicate which antibiotic to use against the causitive pathogen. All of this has to change.
Tragedy, no doubt. But is it really a "Mystery Infection" if "In many cases, the source of isolated E. coli infections is never detected," (I'm guessing 80% here, since...) "Only about 20 percent of E. coli cases are part of recognized outbreaks."
Sad still, but news?
...lol, and the other 80 percent are part of the CIA/Homeland Security organized outbreaks. I think if Homeland Security is going to fight terrorism, they should start by blowing their own heads off!
Grandpa I could not agree with you more. Greed with ultimately be the downfall of this nation. It is really sad that our country places a higher value on the almighty dollar than the health and saftey of its people. Nothing will change unless we change our consumption patterns.
For all those who don't understand the difference between grass-fed and corn-fed beef and the roll that Monsanto Seed plays in our food supply, PLEASE rent or buy FOOD INC....PLEASE take the time to learn something that can effect your health and the health of your children and grandchildren.
You could do that or you could get off your lazy ass and actually work on several different styles of farms, from large to small and realize that FOOD INC, like many other bull@!$%# stories our media agencies put out that your only seeing a small piece of reality, the part that freak out all the gullible idiots like yourself out. No one would watch those shows if they showed the other boring 90% of raising animals
Listen People, you need to get off from sitting on your thumbs and demand from out Goverment to stop all the money hungry food plants that they will be held accountable for all Deaths to there american people,for they crappy cleaning of there plants and workers,all the ilegal workers in the fields pooping in them and keep on working, This must STOP
The street talk in our area is illegal entries into U.S.A are infecting our schools,businesses and hospitals because they have no health standards or protection in the countries they come from and bypassed ours illegally.Then they want everything free,including health care.Wonder why they don't sneak into Russia ,Mexico ,Korea ,or China?DUH
My daughter had an E coli infection along with kidney infection and bladder infection when she was just 3. It was horrible. I remember her asking me in the hospital if she was going to die. I'll never forget that. She recovered but just two months later, she started getting symptoms again. Turns out, she was getting it from being constipated. Because she wasn't able to empty herself, it was becoming toxic. We put her on a Dr. recommended low dose of Miralax for a period of 2 months and she's been fine ever since. Periodically, we would put her on it again for a few days here and there when she needed it and it would fix the problem. Of course I was always trying to get her to eat her veggies and eat some prunes, but when your child is 3, it's not the easiest to get them to do. She's 8 now and does much better with eating her veggies!
While this is a tragic incident I cannot help wondering if the efforts to protect us from things like this are actually working against us.
I am sure that bacteria like E. coli and others have been around much longer than we have and continue to evolve to survive like any other living organism. And despite our best efforts they will continue to survive our efforts to eradicate them. Vaccinations are just a band aide, besides how many diseases have been declared eradicated due to vaccinations only to reappear as a different strain.
I also have read numerous articles about our natural immune systems becoming weaker, as a result of efforts to protect us, becoming less able to deal with the bacteria’s we are in contact with every living moment. As it states in this and other articles these types of bacteria affect the young, elderly and those with other health problems. In short those that have the weakest immune systems.
So I feel that in the big picture our effort to defeat every evolving bacterium that affects us is a losing proposition. The only way to protect one self for all types of life threatening diseases is to live in a sterile environment, like “Boy in the Bubble.”
Hungrymongoose, I really understand your plight because I too am an advocate of alternative medicine too. I don't really favor vaccines, but for now they are pretty much what we have in the arsenal to protect us from injury due to disease. Now, that being said, you are partially right about some of the additonal chemical additive found in vaccines. I think the cogent argument here would be to "protest" those injurous chemical additives. Being an advocate for alternative medicine, the human body has the ability to "fight" many illnesses on its own, given it has been fed well and kept in healthy condition. In some cases it is good to rely on western medicine, but also look for alternative medicine that can sometimes even be used in conjunction. Further, to speak of better eating, sleeping, and excercise habits would be a more amenable argument and one that most everybody could easily follow. In short ALKALIZE YOUR BODY!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW IMPORTANT THAT IS BECAUSE HARDLY ANY BACTERIA/VIRUS AND LIVE IN THAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENT!!!
while you "fight" with the govenrment to take the "trash" out of the vaccines also include the argument of being better at the previously mentioned lifestyle. All these things used in conjunction with one another would present a more unified force that could band together and change the scope of the way our vaccines are manufactured and produced. I believe that would be the best effort that all of us could apply and would more than likely change the face of vaccinations in this country. However, for now...let us all stay safe and use what we have to combat disease and pestilence. I figure that is KEY to the future existence of all of us.
One last question to anyone that wishes to answer...WHERE HAS OUR SPIRIT OF POSITIVE COHESION IN THIS COUNTRY???????? EVERYBODY IS ALWAYS FIGHTING ABOUT ONE THING OR ANOTHER!!! THIS ATTITUDE IS TO BLAME FOR THE DIVIDED STATE OF AMERICA TODAY. When I was younger, we had more comraderie amongst ALL!!! If there was a valid foe we (me and all our neighbors joined hands to fight it) I am interested to hear a response to this. Once again, I urge you to fight the manufacturing companies who watch us fight one another every single day. I have always fouhgt for the betterment of mankind...as a result of some of my efforts food manufacturers are begininng to take "high fructose corn syrup" out of its products. Now that is POISON!!! My advice...BAND TOGETHER...YOU WILL ACCOMPLISH MUCH MORE!!!
When you were younger? How old are you now, just curious, cause I'm 41, and I saw the world going to crap a long time ago, like around Adam and Eve's time, was when the world first started going to crap!
I am older than you, Harold, and I agree.
The world has always been "going to hell in a handbasket".
Nothing new there.
I meant to say "because hardly any bacteria can live in that type of environment."...sorry.
I got carried away...;o)