EHEC danger not banished?

EHEC will continue to be a health risk in the future

05/14/2012

The danger by EHEC is not banished. As experts at the EHEC World Congress last week emphasized, after the end of the EHEC epidemic in Germany by the causal EHEC pathogen O104: H4 no further new infections occurred. But there are countless varieties of intestinal bacteria from the genus Enterohämorrhagische Escherichia coli, so that in the future there is a certain health risk from this direction.

The German EHEC expert Prof. dr. Helge Karch from the Institute of Hygiene of the University Hospital Münster (UKM) was involved in the EHEC World Congress VTEC 2012 with 15 contributions. On Friday, Krach said the good news was that „the former outbreak strain did not cause any illnesses this year. The bad news is that there are other strains that can trigger disease.“ Thus, the danger of EHEC is by no means averted, but is currently not apparent.

Number of EHEC infections in Germany manageable
The cause of the EHEC epidemic was the EHEC pathogen O104: H4, which not only caused the usual symptoms of EHEC such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, but most often severe complications - the so-called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) - result would have. In the worst case, the patients suffered a fatal kidney failure. A total of 50 deaths occurred during the EHEC epidemic last year. After the source of the germs has been identified, the number of infections has declined rapidly and since then, no further new infections with the particularly aggressive pathogen strain have occurred. Nevertheless, risk by EHEC is not finally banned. Every year, around 1,000 patients in Germany contract EHEC infection, which according to a press release from the UKM on Friday „at the lowest end of the scale of the major industrial nations“ ranked.

Global cooperation in the fight against EHEC demanded
In most cases, EHEC infection is associated with severe gastrointestinal discomfort, but is not normally life-threatening for patients. However, there are 42 known types of EHEC that may cause kidney failure, explained Prof. Dr. med. Karch. The pathogen strain from last year is no longer virulent today, but other EHEC strains could take their place, the experts warn. „If a new outburst should occur, it will be caused by another variant“, stressed Karch. According to the Münster EHEC experts, is „the difficulty of making a prediction as to which of these tribes will be.“ In order to avoid similar outbreaks as last year, scientists are already networked across Europe, „But I think that we have to do that worldwide“, Carch on. Because of the globalization of international goods flows, the pathogens can spread worldwide. So the triggers of the EHEC epidemic were probably imported last year with fenugreek seeds from Egypt.

Patients are still suffering from the consequences of EHEC infection
According to the experts, many people in Germany are still suffering from the consequences of the EHEC epidemic. A two-digit number of those still struggling with the consequences, such as kidney damage, and about five percent of patients who had the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) were, according to Professor Hermann-Joseph Pavenstädt University Hospital Münster today still in treatment., which corresponds approximately to a number of 40 patients. At the UKM, the treatment of EHEC patients last year was quite successful and almost all patients have recovered completely from their illness, the hospital reported in its press release on Friday. „After the sometimes very severe illnesses this is a great success“, emphasized Prof. Pavenstädt and added: „We hope that this positive trend will continue in the coming months and years.“ To control the condition of the patients „also regularly checked in cooperation with general practitioners.“ According to Prof. Dr. med. Norbert Roeder, Medical Director and Chief Executive Officer of the UKM „The EHEC outbreak highlighted the importance of well-functioning cooperation between health care and research.“ Prof. Dr. Roeder was particularly happy, „Thanks to the excellent care, the state of health of our patients today is so positive.“

Improved therapy of EHEC infections?
Regarding the treatment of infections with aggressive variants of enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli, Prof. Karch: „It is on the way to finding its own therapies for EHEC patients, "it will „but still take a few years to become available.“ Preventive measures such as the vaccination of cattle - as a skin reservoir of EHEC pathogens - are also being investigated, according to the expert. (Fp)

Read about:
No antibiotic in EHEC
Symptoms of EHEC infection