E Coli toxic mold onto children

This article appeared at http://www.fayettevillenc.com/ Fayetteville, North

Carolina daily newspaper at Fort Bragg military base.
Prospect is a town too small for the map but it's near Red Springs

http://www.redsprings.net/


Saturday, December 1, 2001


25 more students tested for E. coli
By Venita Jenkins
Staff writer

LUMBERTON -- Officials with the Robeson County Health Department have

tested 25 Prospect Elementary School students for E. coli bacteria.

The students were treated at area hospitals, doctors’ offices and the

Health Department after displaying symptoms of E. coli, said Melissa

Packer, a spokesman for the Health Department. Health officials had not

received the test results Friday afternoon.

Packer also said that a second child has been infected with the E. coli

bacteria.

There is no link between the second case and a Prospect student who

tested positive for E. coli earlier this week, Packer said.

Kenan Frizzell, who is 7 years old, was the first confirmed case. The

second case was found in an older child who lives in the Rowland area.

Health officials have not found the source of the bacteria. The

county’s Environmental Health Division is investigating, Packer said.

“A common denominator has not been established,’’ Packer said. “We are

conducting history checks on the children.’’

Food samples from the school’s cafeteria have been sent to a state lab

in Raleigh for testing. Water samples were also taken from the school’s

cafeteria and from a water fountain, said Hugh Cole, the county’s

environmental health director. The school is on county water.

“Water is always a suspect,’’ Cole said. “More children would have

become infected if that was the case.’’

E. coli can cause severe diarrhea and abdominal cramps. A person

infected with the bacteria may have a slight fever. It can spread

through contaminated food or drinking water. A person can be infected,

for example, by eating undercooked beef or drinking unpasteurized milk

or juice.

The incubation time for the bacteria is two to nine days, Packer said.

Joseph Bell, a pediatrician in Pembroke, has seen at least 15 students

who have shown symptoms of E. coli. Bell expected to receive the test

results on Friday.

“We are assuming it involved E. coli,’’ he said. “We are making sure we

are doing everything the Health Department said to do to prevent the

spread of the bacteria.’’

A father, who did not want to be identified, said his daughter had

severe diarrhea Monday night. The girl attends Prospect Elementary

school.

“We didn’t know about it until the next day, when we found her panties

where she had changed them in the night from an accident she had,’’ he

said. “We called our pediatrician, and he told us she probably had the

same thing as the other children.’’

He said no one else in his family has been sick.

“Prospect does not have a good track record for placing the health

concerns of the children first,’’ he said. “Just look at the problems

they’ve had with mold.’’

Several parents sent children to school with bagged lunches on Friday

as a precaution.

Leah Hammonds said she thought her two children would be fine by

sending them to school with bag lunches. However, she still expressed

concern about the health of students.

“First mold, then this,’’ she said. “It’s really scary.’’

Victor Locklear said he has watched his son, who is a sixth-grader at

the school, since finding out about the E. coli infections.

“We don’t want to take any chances,’’ he said. “We haven’t noticed any

of the symptoms.’’

Locklear said he and other parents are concerned because of the recent

problems with mold at the school.

Mold was found in the school in April after leaks developed during the

replacement of a roof and the construction of the library. Several

parents claimed their children became ill because of exposure to mold.

“I wished they had gotten information to parents sooner,’’ Locklear

said. “Three days was just too long. I know they didn’t want to scare

anyone, and wanted to take precaution.’’

Susan Sheats, the county’s infectious disease supervisor, sent a letter

to school officials Thursday afternoon after receiving confirmation of

the infection from the state. School officials delayed school buses for

nearly an hour so they could send notices home to parents.


Staff writer Venita Jenkins can be reached at (910) 738-7630 or

jenkinsv [at] fayettevillenc.com