School investigates after sister and brother suffer E coli bug

Published on Wednesday 6 February 2008 21:32

INVESTIGATIONS were under way last night after an outbreak of the potentially deadly E coli 0157 bug in a primary school.

A three-year-old girl in the nursery class at Wester Overton Primary in Strathaven, Lanarkshire, was critically ill.

Her six-year-old brother also needed antibiotic treatment, but both have since recovered.

Parents at the school were sent letters asking them to take any children showing signs such as abdominal pain, vomiting or bloody stools to their GP.

A spokeswoman for NHS Lanarkshire said there had been no other diagnoses outside the family.

A statement issued by the health authority said it was still investigating the cause of the two cases and was awaiting test results.

It said: "As a precautionary measure we wrote to parents at the children's school, advising them to visit their GP if they, or their child, had symptoms of gastroenteritis.

"Local GPs have also been contacted to make them aware of the situation, and no further cases have been reported."

A spokesman for the local authority said it had acted on advice from the health authority.

However, parents at the school remained concerned.

One mother said: "Every parent is really anxious. All we have heard from the health board was a single letter telling us that two cases of E coli had been confirmed and that we should keep a lookout for symptoms."

A similar investigation by NHS Lothian is ongoing into a case of the same bug at an Edinburgh nursery.

One child at the nursery, which has not been named, was diagnosed with the 0157 strain earlier this week.

E coli 0157 is most commonly found in the intestines of cattle. Humans can become infected by eating contaminated foods, inadequately cooked meat or dairy products, by direct contact with animals and by person-to-person spread.

Sir Hugh Pennington, Scotland's leading microbiologist, said: "This has to be taken seriously. It is a nasty bug and there is no specific treatment."

And he added: "We have had outbreaks in nurseries before. One has to be very careful in these circumstances because kids are not up to speed with hygiene yet at this age."