Ulcerative colitis and Enterohemorrhagic E. coli infection

“Given that there had not yet been any real investigation into Chloe’s questions of ‘why’ she had Ulcerative colitis, the Enterohemorrhagic E.coli infection discovery was pivotal.

We may have found a chronic level of infection.

 

As described by the Diagnostic Solutions Lab – ‘Escherichia coli is a large and varied species of bacteria that includes many strains. They colonize humans and animals and are spread through contaminated water, food (undercooked beef, raw milk, and unpasteurized juice) or contact with infected humans or animals. E. coli can cause infections outside of the GI tract such as urinary tract infections, meningitis, and intra-abdominal abscess.’

While there are many harmless, and even beneficial E.coli strains, there are six strains that are notorious for their pathogenicity, especially for GI infections.

 

Most importantly in Chloe’s case – Enterohemorrhagic E. coli can lead to hemorrhagic colitis or hemolytic uremic syndrome and colonize the colon while the others colonize the small intestines. Acute Symptoms include fever, abdominal cramping, fatigue, nausea, blood and mucus in the stool and diarrhea.

 

Furthermore there are several factors that make this strain of E.coli particularly Virulent making it both a challenging infection and difficult to eradicate: (https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3710334/).

 

It wasn’t clear at the time why no tests for pathogenicity of this nature had not already been performed.”