E. coli afflicts victim’s sibling

EVERETT — Although a second child from an Everett family has been confirmed as having an E. coli infection, there’s no indication the disease has spread to anyone outside the family, public health officials said Wednesday.

“This is not considered to be an outbreak,” said Suzanne Pate, spokeswoman for the Snoho­mish Health District. “We have no other cases at this time of E. coli in Snohomish County.”

However, tests results are pending on the children’s grandmother, who lives in King County.

If she has become sickened with the disease, she likely became sick “through contact with one of the children,” said James Apa, a spokesman for Public Health Seattle and King County.

Restaurants have been ruled out as the source of the infection, Pate said.

“We might never know what the source is,” she said. “There are so many places where E. coli is present and it’s transmitted so easily.

“E. coli spreads like wildfire” among people who are in close contact with each other, such as family members, she said.

Pate said she did not know of any other family members who had symptoms of the bacterial infection from E. coli O157:H7, which can cause severe diarrhea and kidney damage.

The case was first reported to the Snohomish Health District on Sept. 24 in a child between 16 and 18 months old, she said.

The toddler was hospitalized for about three days at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle and was released at the end of last week, she said.

Tests confirmed that a second child in same family, who is under 5 years of age, also has the bacterial infection, Pate said.

The disease can be spread in several ways, such as by eating undercooked meat or when people infected with the disease do not wash their hands after using the toilet or changing a child’s diaper.

Steps to help prevent the spread of infection include thoroughly cooking meat, carefully washing hands after using the bathroom and cleaning kitchen utensils used to cut up raw meat before using them to prepare other food.

The largest E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Washington was in 1993, when 477 people were infected from contaminated, undercooked hamburger.

However, most reported E. coli cases involve individuals or family members, not massive public health outbreaks.

About 18 cases a year are reported in Snohomish County.

Last year, there were 40 E. coli cases in King County, Apa said.

“Undoubtedly, it’s difficult for the family,” Apa said of the Snohomish County cases. “But it’s not registering as a larger public health threat, based on the evidence we have right now.”

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.