The Oklahoma Blood Institute is holding a special blood drive for eight-year-old Connor Sneary, one of the youngest victims of an E. coli outbreak associated with the Oklahoma Youth Expo. A dozen people became sick after attending the event held in March at the Oklahoma state fairgrounds. Sneary and another child, who is two years old, have both been hospitalized with hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a life-threatening complication of E. coli infections in young children that causes kidney failure and other complications.
Sneary is undergoing dialysis and blood transfusions in the intensive care unit at OU Children’s Hospital, according to local news reports. He is in critical condition. The blood drive for him will be held on Tuesday, April 8, from noon to 6 p.m., at the First Christian Church in Alva, OK.
“Most people are unaware that E. coli can cause severe illness and death,” said Food Poisoning Bulletin Publisher Fred Pritzker, an attorney who has represented many clients with E. coli-HUS. “In every case, the illness could have been prevented with better sanitation.”
Public health officials are still gathering information about the outbreak and testing samples collected from the animals, the fairgrounds and those sickened. All of those sickened had some contact with animals at the event.
