EHEC bacteria Young patient died from the infection

Adolescents died of EHEC infection
The dramatic consequences of an infection with bacteria of the genus Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) has become clear to many people in the context of the EHEC epidemic 2011 in Germany. But even in normal times, without acute outbreak events, people fall ill again and again at EHEC. In North Rhine-Westphalia, such an infection has now claimed a death toll, according to media reports.

A 16-year-old teenager from Erwitte in the district of Soest has died from the consequences of an EHEC infection, reports the news agency "dpa", citing the statement of a district spokesman. The patients had developed a so-called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which subsequently led to multiple organ failure. The way in which the adolescent has become infected remains open. Further EHEC infection has not yet been reported in the district of Soest. However, even the current case is not yet shown in the official statistics of the State Center for Health (LZG) North Rhine-Westphalia.

In North Rhine-Westphalia, a teenager died from the consequences of EHEC infection. (Image: DOC RABE Media / fotolia.com)
EHEC symptoms initially often unspecific
The EHEC intestinal germs are usually absorbed by contaminated food and not infrequently an infection is relatively unnoticed. In most cases, symptoms such as fever, diarrhea (including bloody diarrhea), severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting are typical symptoms of EHEC infection. In particularly severe cases, the development of a so-called hemolytic uraemic syndrome, including kidney damage, which can even lead to kidney failure, is threatened. In the end, at worst, a fatal multi-organ failure ensues. Since EHEC is extremely contagious, the outbreak is continuously monitored by the responsible health authorities. Thus, without the current case, 65 corresponding infections were registered in the LGZ this year. However, none of the infections was fatal.

Relatively few EHEC infections in Germany
According to the official figures of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Germany in January and February of this year, 231 people have contracted an EHEC infection. By comparison, more than 8,500 people suffered from Norovirus infection during the same period. Accordingly, the outbreak of the EHEC intestinal germs in a very manageable framework and is not comparable to the situation in 2011, when thousands of people, especially in northern Germany fell ill with the intestinal germs and a total of 53 people succumbed to the consequences of this infection.

Infection route remains unclear
The LZG recorded a total of 268 Ehec disorders in the 2015 infection report and about 90 more cases in NRW the following year. However, there had been no Ehec deaths in the two years, a spokeswoman for the Landeszentrum Gesundheit (LZG) NRW reported to the "dpa". In view of the fact that so far no other infections have been reported from the district of Soest, the fatal illness of the 16-year-olds is rather to be considered as a tragic isolated case and does not give cause for concern about a major outbreak. However, finding the exact route of infection in such cases is usually difficult to achieve and so I can not completely rule out that other people get infected in the same way. (Fp)