Health bosses stayed silent as E.coli infected 21 people

HEALTH bosses did not raise the alert about an outbreak of deadly E.coli for more than four months while 21 people became infected, a report reveals.

The outbreak of E. coli VTEC 044 left 11 children and two adults fighting for their lives after they developed rare complications.

It was the first infection of its kind in England and affected 21 people in Dorset between July 2014 and Nov 2015. The victims included a 21-month-old boy, who had to be placed in a medically induced coma while suffering kidney failure and seizures due to swelling on the brain.

Others developed haemolytic-uremic syndrome, a complication which can affect the central nervous system, kidneys and blood. Some have been left with lifelong health complications.

Meanwhile a number of children at a nursery in Blandford were admitted to hospital. The Public Health England (PHE) report on the outbreak, which was released under Freedom of Information laws to the Dorset Echo, reveals the infection is likely to have originated from animals. The outbreak was made public in Nov 2014.

The report said there was “no public health protection imperative to go public with warnings” earlier.

Trish Mannes, deputy director for health protection Public Health England South East, told the Dorset Echo: “It wasn’t a failure in summer 2014 because despite very thorough investigations into links there were none found.” She said the cases were not unusual for the time of year. A PHE spokesman also said that if it constantly issued warnings “people will become desensitised”.

But Chris Chope, the MP for Christchurch, said: “I can’t think of a justification for an outbreak of that kind to not be made public. When has there ever been a problem as a result of the public knowing about it? It means the public may be more careful about washing their hands, for example, and that’s not going to do anyone any harm.”