Health Law

One Year Old Isaiah Romero Of Sioux Center, Iowa Fighting Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

By Marler Clark LLP

One year old Isaiah Romero of Sioux Center, Iowa finds himself in Sanford Children's Hospital tonight, fighting back against Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS).

KSFY Action News in Sioux Falls, South Dakota  where Sanford Children's is located reports its possible Isaiah is a victim of the the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak blamed on the Greeley Beef Plant owned by the JBS Swift Company.

Post-diarrheal Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (D+HUS) is a severe, life-threatening complication that occurs in about 10 percent of those infected with E. coli O157:H7 or other Shiga toxin (Stx) producing E. coli. D+HUS was first described in 1955, but was not known to be secondary to E. coli infections until 1982. It is now recognized as the most common cause of acute kidney failure in infants and young children. Adolescents and adults are also susceptible, as are the elderly who often succumb to the disease.

According to KSFY: "A few weeks ago Isaiah started with basic diarrhea, then vomiting. There was an E. coli test done, but it came back negative. He developed HUS this past weekend, which commonly forms from E. coli. While not every child that gets E. coli, also gets HUS, there is a small percentage that does. It attacks the red blood cells in the body and that leads to kidney failure. Isaiah has been on dialysis and had a number of other tests done to track his progress."

Full post as published by e.Coli Blog on July 08, 2009 (boomark / email).