Popularity of petting farms raises E.coli rates

SOARING numbers of patients are succumbing to potentially deadly E. coli from salad leaves and petting farms, official figures reveal.

Infection rates jumped 7 per cent in a year to affect almost 40,000 people, while some hospitals reported a near doubling.

The bug can be fatal – particularly for young children and the elderly – and may be passed on from eating contaminated foods such as salad or dairy, as well as by stroking animals at farms or zoos. E. coli usually causes stomach pain but can also lead to a form of kidney failure.

The Government has promised to halve rates of the main superbugs by 2020 but the latest data suggests they will miss this target. Experts say the increase may be due to the bacteria becoming stronger and more

‘Can be fatal for children’

resistant to antibiotics. They are also concerned NHS officials have neglected E. coli trends as they focus on driving down superbugs such as MRSA and C. difficile.

Cases of E. coli increased from 35,764 in 2014/15 to 38,132 in 2015/16, Public Health England (PHE) figures show. A third of trusts – 60 in total – reported spikes of at least 10 per cent, while at Yeovil District Hospital cases soared from 109 to 193.

John Illingworth, of the Health Foundation think tank, said: ‘The Government’s plans seem to focus primarily on hospitals, when we know that the majority of E. coli cases are acquired in the community.’

He called for a more ‘joined-up’ approach to tackling the causes outside of hospitals.

Last July, PHE warned Britons to wash their salads after up to 150 people were infected and two died after catching E. coli from mixed bags of leaves. The bug was linked to a batch imported from the Mediterranean.