Aubrie Utter, 3, is the third Oregon child to be diagnosed wit E.coli HUS kidney failure since the end of August, KATU-TV reports. Aubrie’s parents think the cases may be related, all three children spent time near the South Santiam River and all three ate watermelon they bought from a Walmart in Lebanon before they got sick.
Aubrie celebrated her birthday at Waterloo Park on August 23. They used a park tap to wash hands and another to fill water balloons. Later that night, Aubrie woke up with a stomachache and diarrhea. They brought her to a clinic, and just like Serena Profitt’s family, they were told it was a virus and sent home.
Aubrie got worse. Katie Hendricks said when she opened her daughter’s diaper and found it full of blood, they brought Aubrie back to the clinic and demanded a blood test. Two hours later, she was in Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, two doors down from Serena.
Aubrie was hospitalized for a week and underwent five blood transfusions. Serena, 4, died after suffering a stroke and a seizure. Her friend, Brad Sutton, 5, has been undergoing dialysis. He remains hospitalized at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.
Symptoms of an E. coli infection are diarrhea, that is often bloody, and abdominal cramps. Symptoms usually set in three to four days after exposure but can appear within 24 hours or as long as 10 days to develop. About 15 percent of children with E. coli infections will develop HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome. HUS causes blood cells to become misshapen and to die prematurely, clogging the kidneys. Kidney failure, heart attack, seizure and stroke are all possible complications of HUS. Children under 10 are at most at risk for HUS because their immune systems have not fully developed. For about 12 percent of children, HUS is fatal.
The three Oregon cases are not the only recent reports of HUS. Brooklyn Hoksbergen’s, a 3-year-old Washington girl died last week from an E. coli infection. And five children are currently hospitalized in Kentucky with HUS.
