News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A study involving a large group of patients hospitalized during Germany's 2011 outbreak of a rare type of Escherichia coli spread by contaminated sprouts found that some patients shed the pathogen for several weeks or months and that antibiotic use seemed to shorten the shedding time.

(CIDRAP News) – A contaminated multipurpose building apparently was the source of Escherichia coli O157 exposure for at least 19 people who got sick after attending a county fair in Ohio in 2001, according to a study published this week.

(CIDRAP News) – A drug that researchers hoped would offer the first effective treatment for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)—a sometimes fatal kidney condition that can result from eating food contaminated with Escherichia coli O157:H7—has proved ineffective in a major clinical trial.

(CIDRAP News) – A recent meta-analysis does not support the idea that antibiotic treatment increases the risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in patients with Escherichia coli O157:H7 enteritis, but the authors say the question isn't settled yet.