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The number of lab-confirmed cases linked to an E. coli outbreak in Calgary-area daycares has nearly doubled.
Dr. Franco Rizzuti, Calgary Zone medical officer of health, said, as of Wednesday afternoon, there are now 96 lab-confirmed cases, a significant jump from the 56 reported on Tuesday.
More children have also been hospitalized; 22 are in hospital, seven more than yesterday. Sixteen of the kids are at the Alberta Children’s Hospital while six are at the pediatric ward of the Peter Lougheed Centre.
Rizzuti said a “handful” of children in hospital have developed more serious outcomes of their Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection. He did not provide details on what those more serious outcomes were or how many, but noted that hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is among the possibilities.
Alberta Health Services has not yet identified a source of the infection. The Calgary Zone MOH said health inspectors were at the central kitchen linked to all of the daycares earlier this week, and took food samples.
Rizzuti noted that when he declared the outbreak over the weekend, following multiple reports from hospitals of children with bloody diarrhea, the kitchen was in compliance with health inspections.
Not all of the eleven daycares that were closed had lab-confirmed cases linked to them, but Rizzuti said it’s “still early days.” He said these locations were all closed due to their links to the central kitchen:
- Fueling Brains Braeside
- Fueling Brains West 85th
- Fueling Brains New Brighton
- Fueling Brains Centennial
- Fueling Brains Bridgeland
- Fueling Brains McKnight
- Braineer Academy
- Kidz Space
- Little Oak Early Education (formerly Mangrove)
- Almond Branch School
- Vik Academy in Okotoks
Rizzuti said the daycare operators were “terrific” partners in the outbreak closures and investigations, and in the effort to inform all parents.
AHS also launched a webpage for parents with more information about the outbreak investigation.
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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