E. coli Mostly in Adults, Women

A large, ongoing outbreak of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome caused by Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli in Germany is occurring mostly in adults, primarily women, according to a study published online June 22 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

WEDNESDAY, June 22 (HealthDay News) -- A large, ongoing outbreak of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome caused by Shiga-toxin-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Germany is occurring mostly in adults, primarily women, according to a study published online June 22 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Christina Frank, Ph.D., of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany, and colleagues analyzed data, as of June 18, 2011, from reports in Germany of Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli gastroenteritis and the hemolytic-uremic syndrome as well as clinical information on patients presenting to the medical center. They defined an outbreak case as a reported case of the hemolytic-uremic syndrome or gastroenteritis in someone infected by Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli, serogroup O104, with disease onset on or after May 1, 2011.


Unlike previous E. coli outbreaks, the German strain caused three times as many cases of a severe complication that can lead to kidney failureIt was the deadliest E. coli outbreak in history, infecting 3,601 people and killing 39 across Europe, with most cases in Germany. More than 800 people developed kidney problems from the outbreak that peaked in late May.

German officials identified sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany as the outbreak's cause, though they don't know how the sprouts got infected.

There are hundreds of E. coli strains in the environment, and many strains dangerous to humans come from animals like cows and sheep. People naturally carry E. coli in their gut but few strains cause illness. But the bacteria is constantly evolving and swapping genes with other strains, giving it countless opportunities to mutate into a killer version.

Pennington said it is crucial to find out whether this new E. coli strain is widely circulating in animals. "If it turns out to be very common in cattle, that would ring alarm bells that this kind of (outbreak) might happen again in the future," he said.