E.Coli prevention in Child Care Agencies in Pittsburgh

Child Care Agencies in Pittsburgh

Pittsburgh is home of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum is ranked among the top five natural history museums. The Carnegie museum contains more than 20 galleries and maintains and preserves over 21 million objects and scientific specimen with the intent of instilling a love of our environment, science and nature.

The world of nature is exciting and compelling. Strange though it may sound, childcare agencies are microcosms of a greater ecological system. Organisms and germs congregate in childcare agencies without some of nature’s natural dispersal devices. There are no winds or rainwater to flush and remove dangerous organisms from the contained environment of childcare agencies.

Parents at any location in the United States, including Pittsburgh, might remember the tragic events that occurred last year at a childcare agency in the Pacific Northwest. Four children were infected with a virulent pathogen called E.coli 0157:H7. The pathogen was not believed to have originated from a food source at the childcare agency. Rather it is believed to have been transmitted via ‘human to human’ contact through insufficient hand washing and casual contact.

The childcare agency where the infection took place had sufficient hygiene protocols in place but never the less the bacteria were still able to spread among children in the small facility. Very few E.coli 0157:H bacteria are necessary to transmit the infection.

E.coli 0157:H7 usually makes the ‘news’ in beef product recalls and sometimes fruits and vegetables. In 2009, a national outbreak was tied to commercial cookie dough. E.coli 0157:H7 is naturally found in the intestines of cows. Cattle are immune to the powerful toxin created by these bacteria.  This particular E.coli bacterium causes hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which affects the blood clotting abilities of the body. Eventually victims succumb to lack of blood flow, with the kidneys typically being the first organs to shut down.

There are no cures or treatments for this illness. Patients undergo dialysis, blood transfusions and sometimes-even transplants. With proper treatment, more than half of patients will recover.  Children fare better than adults do. The best prevention is to cook hamburger and meats well and avoid contact with unclean water.

If someone carrying the bacteria is being looked after at childcare agencies Pittsburgh even the most superb hygiene skills may not be enough to stop the spread of the virulent organism. The best bet is to cook hamburger well and wash fruits and vegetables. That way the organism will not make its way into childcare agencies.