Death of an eight-year-old boy EHEC infection was not the cause of death

Confirmation: Eight-year-old child in Witten did not die at EHEC
After the death of an eight-year-old student in Witten (North Rhine-Westphalia), the local health department has now confirmed that the boy did not die from EHEC infection. The child had previously been infected with the intestinal germ.
Boy did not die at EHEC
The eight-year-old boy, who died last week in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, has not died of EHEC infection. This has resulted in an autopsy, as police and the local health department announced. It was known that the second grader had become infected with the intestinal germ. In addition, at the primary school of the boy at the same time also 13 other children were suffering from diarrhea. The district health department had ordered the examination of stool samples. According to the information, neither EHEC nor Noro virus could be detected in three of them. The results of the other samples are expected for the next few days.

EHEC germs are not responsible for the boy's death. Image: DOC RABE Media - fotolia

Thousands of years ago, thousands fell ill
The EHEC epidemic in 2011 showed how easily the pathogens can spread and what the dramatic consequences are in this case. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), more than 3,500 people were sometimes seriously ill with the effects of the EHEC germ. A major symptom of EHEC infection is a watery, bloody, diarrheal bowel movement, usually accompanied by severe spasmodic abdominal pain, fever, nausea and vomiting. The various sequelae can be associated with a variety of other symptoms such as kidney pain, increased liver enzymes and uraemia. According to health experts, a doctor should be consulted at the first symptoms.

Diarrhea in January nothing unusual
What the eight-year-old died, was not communicated. And also on how strongly the EHEC disease had progressed, there was no further details on Friday. A spokesman for the police headquarters in Bochum said the boy had died a natural death. It is said that the sick children are doing well in the circumstances. "As far as I know, none is in the hospital," said the spokesman for the Ennepe-Ruhr district, Ingo Niemann, according to "derwesten.de". Moreover, 13 diarrhea-related illnesses in a school are not uncommon for January. "It's the high-time of Noro viruses," said the spokesman. (Ad)