Personal Injury Law

Cleveland Is Also Trying To Defeat Shigella, Especially At Its Day Care Centers

Over the weekend, the Cleveland Plain Dealer did a wrap-up on the ongoing Shigella outbreak in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

The newspaper reported that: 'Infections from the shigella bacteria began soaring in 2007 and show no signs of slowing down. Cuyahoga County reported 218 cases last year, after averaging about 30 cases a year the prior five years. The county is on pace to top last year's numbers, while the Cleveland Department of Public Health this year has responded to five outbreaks at day-care centers through April.

"We've never seen these kind of numbers, at least not in the last six or seven years," said Cleveland Health Director Matt Carroll. "I don't think we have a lot of understanding as to why we're seeing it."

Much of the outbreak is focused on day care centers in the Greater Cleveland area.  "It can go right through a day care because it doesn't take much to get infected," said Dr. Blaise Congeni, director of pediatric infectious diseases at Akron Children's Hospital.

For more from the Plain Dealer, go here.

Full post as published by Shigella Blog on June 02, 2009 (boomark / email).