E. coli outbreak kills child at day care

VANCOUVER, Wash. - A recent outbreak of a potentially deadly strain of E. coli at a Washington day-care center has killed one child and sickened three others, health officials said Friday.

Elizabeth Winter of the Washington state Department of Early Learning said the child who died was a 4-year-old boy, and the department was notified of his death Friday.

The Clark County, Wash., health department learned of the first hospitalization involving the E. coli O157:H7 bacteria strain on March 19, said Dr. Alan Melnick, the county health officer. The other three children were hospitalized soon afterward and have since been released, he said.

Melnick wouldn't provide any further details on the child who died.

"We believe we have it confined," Melnick said Friday.

On April 2, county public health officials temporarily closed the home-based, licensed day care center operated by Dianne and Larry Fletch.

The Fletch Family Daycare has operated since 1990 and no complaints have been filed against it, Winter said. It has about 22 child attendees, Melnick told reporters.

"This is a very difficult time for the family who has suffered such an incredible loss," the Fletches said in a statement Friday. "It is also a difficult time for our day care families and the children who were his friends. It is an especially difficult time for us as day care providers."

The statement said the day care has worked closely with the health department to put measures in place to control the spread of the illness.

The Fletches did not immediately return phone messages from The Associated Press seeking additional comment.

E. coli is a common and ordinarily harmless bacteria, but certain strains can cause abdominal cramps, fever, bloody diarrhea, kidney failure, blindness, paralysis and death.

The strain involved in this case, E. coli O157:H7, is best known for its role in large outbreaks traced to ground beef or produce.

However, person-to-person transmission can be a problem in day care settings or nursing homes without sufficiently thorough hand-washing after toilet use or diaper-changing. In some cases, especially in young children, infection can lead to life-threatening complications.

The day care in Vancouver, near Portland, Ore., is housed in a tidy single-story yellow rambler on a large lot set back from the road and behind a gated driveway. A 6-foot-tall chain link fence encloses the property.

Investigators have not pinpointed a precise source of the outbreak, but Melnick said the infection was spread from person to person.

Symptoms can take as long as 10 days to appear after exposure, so the health department is checking with staff and the children's families daily.

Melnick said the day care will remain closed until affected staff show no presence of the bacteria on two consecutive tests. Children who tested positive will have to meet the same criteria before being allowed to attend any day care or school, he said.