Further EHEC infections in Hamburg

Pensioner in Hamburg also infected with EHEC

29/02/2012

After about a week and a half ago, a six-year-old girl died of an EHEC infection in Hamburg, reports about further EHEC cases in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg now cause additional uncertainty among the population.

The EHEC epidemic of last year is still relatively present to most people in Germany and so many are particularly concerned about the latest news from Hamburg. The death of a six-year-old and the EHEC infections of two other children and a 68-year-old senior citizen cause significant insecurity among the population, even if the authorities warn of a scare tactic.

EHEC infections lead to insecurity in the population
The six-year-old girl's EHEC death had already triggered a noticeable public concern. Presumably also to avoid a scare tactic, the health authorities of the Hanseatic city initially spoke of an isolated case. However, three more EHEC cases have now become known in Hamburg, which significantly increases fears in the population. Thus, an eleven-year-old pupil from Blankenese and a three-year-old Kita child from Blankenese also fell ill with an infection with pathogens from the genus Enterohämorrhagischen Escherichia coli (EHEC). Furthermore, a 68-year-old senior citizen from Othmarschen was also affected, so the message from the Hamburg health authority on Wednesday. The EHEC expert Professor Doctor Helge Karch from the Institute of Hygiene of the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster already had the newsmagazine immediately after the death of the six-year elementary school student „The mirror“ pointed out that corresponding EHEC infections unlike those claimed by the health authorities are by no means an isolated case and the disease can last for weeks, especially in the cold season.

Pathogens of the EHEC epidemic not responsible for the infections in Hamburg
The search for the source of infection has been in full swing since the death of the six-year-old student from Blankenese. The results of a laboratory examination of the pathogens are already available. It was found that it was not the particularly aggressive EHEC bacteria of strain O104: H4, which had caused the EHEC epidemic last year with nearly 4,000 infections and 50 deaths, that were responsible for the death of the little girl. This type of pathogen is particularly dangerous because it causes the so-called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) more often than other EHEC pathogens. The typical symptoms of EHEC infection, such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting are accompanied in HUS by other complaints such as internal bleeding (especially in the area of ​​the renal artery), anemia, and a concomitant lack of oxygen supply to the entire organism , Due to the lack of oxygen, HUS patients may also suffer from headaches, tinnitus, difficulty concentrating, chronic fatigue, and blurred vision. In severe cases, HUS patients are at risk of life-threatening kidney failure. But the current EHEC infections in Hamburg do not seem to go back to the particularly dangerous pathogen strain O104: H4.

Threatens a spread of EHEC pathogens?
The 68-year-old from Hamburg, who is also suffering from EHEC, had already been infected more than two weeks ago, according to the authorities. The patient has now overcome her illness and was „already back home“, so the message of the health authority. The eleven-year-old high school student from Blankenese and the three-year-old Kita child from Blankenese are also on the road to recovery, according to official figures. What is striking about the four EHEC infections that have been detected in Hamburg over the past few weeks is that the three children visited facilities in the district of Blankenese and all come from the district of Altona. However, the health authorities have so far been unable to provide any explanation. In view of a possible impending spread of the pathogens, hospitals, doctors and the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin were informed about the latest EHEC infections in Hamburg and the operation of the Blankenese High School was closed until Thursday. Currently there is a disinfection of the classrooms instead.

EHEC infections no cause for panic
Overall, the four EHEC infections are no cause for panic, according to the conclusion of the kidney specialist Rolf Stahl from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). Although the uncertainty in the population due to the EHEC epidemic from last year is quite understandable, but in itself EHEC infections are an annually recurring phenomenon. In Hamburg, for example, around six to seven children become infected with the EHEC bacteria each year, but in most cases the infection is rather harmless. „One must always remember that this is a not uncommon childhood disease that rarely ends fatally“, the UKE expert told the news agency „dpa“. (Fp)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann