Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 15, 1995 TAG: 9508150110
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Family members were worried that Amy had been poisoned by the potentially deadly E. coli bacteria, but doctors were not able to confirm that.
Amy was upgraded to fair condition Monday and moved from the pediatric intensive care unit of the Medical University of South Carolina to the acute transition unit after almost two weeks in the hospital. She and her parents were vacationing at Myrtle Beach when Amy became sick, and she was airlifted to Charleston Aug. 2.
Amy's symptoms included nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, all possible indications of infection by E. coli. She had internal bleeding and complications, and required surgery for dialysis treatment.
New River Valley health authorities, however, examined two area restaurants where the family ate before their vacation, looking for evidence of E. coli contamination. They found no such evidence.
"I don't have anything that conclusively says it was related to food," said Vic Marcussen, sanitation manager for the New River Health District whose office is charged with restaurant inspections. He added that the family ate ground meat, one possible source of the infection, at their home before leaving for South Carolina.
E. coli outbreaks in several places across the nation in recent years have resulted in deaths.
Amy, who finished first grade in June, has been the talk of much of the New River Valley in recent days after a Pulaski radio station aired news of her plight. Her mother, Beverly Terry, has been at her bedside during Amy's hospital stay, and Amy's father, David Terry, returned home only briefly and was back in Charleston Monday. A fund for her has been set up at Charter Federal Savings Bank in Dublin.
Amy "feels rough and she's weak, but she's getting there day by day," Beverly Terry said by telephone Monday from Amy's hospital room.
In their search for the cause of the infection, health officials and doctors have been stymied by lack of samples from what the girl might have eaten. Moreover, the tests done on her stool samples in South Carolina showed no indication of E. coli, but they were conducted after she had been treated with antibiotics, which might have masked evidence of the bacteria , or similar organisms such as salmonella or staph.
Because of this lack of direct evidence, New River Valley health authorities are reluctant to say this is a case of E. coli infection. But the girl's relatives said doctors in South Carolina told them Amy was infected with E. coli.
"That quite possibly is just presumed on their part," said Dr. D. Craig Smith, acting director of the New River Health District. "We don't know for sure, and we may never know for sure."
"We're not giving up on it by any means," Marcussen said.
Marcussen said he contacted all area hospitals and doctors' offices in the New River Valley and heard of no other similar cases.
The Escherichia coli bacteria is found in all humans, and also in cow feces. People become sick when they ingest food or water that contains bacteria-contaminated feces.
E. coli can be transmitted by eating under-cooked meat and has been associated with unpasteurized apple cider and salad bars. The bacteria can also be spread through human-to-human contact.
The infection is becoming more common in the United States. It was first reported in 1982, and made national headlines after a 1993 outbreak at Jack in the Box restaurants in the Pacific Northwest that resulted in four death and 700 illnesses. Scientists estimate the infection may cause as many as 200 to 500 deaths each year, and up to 20,000 illnesses.
The infection can be prevented by not eating undercooked meat; by washing fruit and vegetables; by washing hands before eating or preparing food; and by refrigerating food.
by CNB