Escherichia Coli E-coli O104:H4 Outbreak 2011 Germany

Thank you to Ildiko for posting this important topic.

PARIS — The deadly German E. coli strain that killed at least 45 people has resurfaced in France, where officials said a cluster of eight people have fallen ill, apparently from eating contaminated sprouts grown in France.

Most recent update New York Times | As reported in the Lancet | The E-coli toxin has sickened 2,684 people with diarrhea and 810 with kidney failure as of June 20 . Thirty-nine people died. Research found two unusual aspects of this strain. 1) Shiga, that causes severe illness, including bloody diarrhea and sometimes kidney failure and 2) the ability of this strain to gather on the surface of an intestinal wall in a dense pattern that looks like a stack of bricks, possibly enhancing the bacteria’s ability to pump the toxin into the body.

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How do you pronounce Escherichia?  Esh-e-reek-e-uh Cole-eye ESCHERICHIA
A genus of aerobic gram-negative rod-shaped bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae that form acid and gas on many carbohydrates (as dextrose and lactose) but no acetoin and that include occasionally pathogenic forms (as some strains of E. coli) normally present in the human intestine and other forms which typically occur in soil and water

Biographical Note for ESCHERICHIA
Esch·e·rich , Theodor (1857–1911), German pediatrician. A seminal figure in pediatrics, Escherich used his extensive knowledge of bacteriology, immunology, and biochemistry to greatly advance child care, especially in the areas of hygiene and nutrition. In 1886 he published a monograph in which he discussed the relationship of intestinal bacteria to the physiology of digestion in infants. Therein he gave the first description of a colon bacillus (Escherichia coli) now extensively used in genetic research.

June 8, 2011 BERLIN, June 6 (Xinhua) -- German authorities said on Monday
that first sample tests of the allegedly contaminated bean sprouts have found
NO E.coli germs that have sickened more than 2,000 people in Europe.

And on June 10, 2011 Scientists have CONFIRMED the presence of E-coli source linked to beansprout. 

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Special Homeopathy Radio BlogTalkRadio on the Wednesday

How Homeopathy Helps Grow Great Organic Gardens

Phyllis Georgic, homeopathy and master gardener, talks about E-coli, soil

contamination, the spread of disease and homeopathy.

Have we become an international community of conspiracy theorists?

E-Coli Bio-Engineering | People like Mike Adams make preposterous propositions linking one thing to another. Where do you stand on this issue? Are governments manipulating the people by causing outbreaks and scares?

When scientists at Germany's Robert Koch Institute decoded the genetic makeup of the O104 strain, they found it to be resistant to all the following classes and combinations of antibiotics:

• penicillins
• tetracycline
• nalidixic acid
• trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazol
• cephalosporins
• amoxicillin / clavulanic acid
• piperacillin-sulbactam
• piperacillin-tazobactam

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Cucumbers from Spain are not the cause of the outbreak.

18 sprout mixtures were under suspicion, including sprouts of beans, broccoli, peas, chickpeas, garlic, lentils, mung beans and radishes. The sprouts are often used in mixed salads.

Phyllis Georgic provides information about the homeopathic remedy Baptisia tinctoria and other remedies in relation to this outbreak, which has been used historically for plague.

Baptisia Tinctoria | Typhoid Fever, Influenza. Complete and total prostration. Head feels too large. The face seems dull and besotted. Gastric fevers. Mumps. Plague. Septic Fevers. Sewer Gas poisonings. Methane poisonings.

There is sudden onset of symptoms and collapse soon to follow. Complete collapse after vaccinations. Constrictions and oppressions of the chest. Weakness of lungs. Sensation of suffocation.

Fear of sleeping for fear that they may stop breathing. Putrid offensive breath. Putrefied states in general. 

Homeopathic Bowel Nosodes of E-Coli | Bowel Nosode for Botulism

This remedy resets the gastric symbiosis so that the E-Coli does not run rampant in the system. If there is any E-Coli poisoning, this has been the remedy to used along with any other remedies that seem to match the symptoms the person exhibits. You must match up symptoms.

Anthrax and Botulism Poisoning | Nosodes have been used inter-currently with the remedy that fits the other symptoms and use that as the main remedy. Some times it appears to be tainted food with botulism toxin of the bacillus of Botulism possibly in canned foods.

Symptoms include blurred or double vision. Difficulty in swallowing and breathing due to the paralysis of the intestines and the diaphragm. Choking; weakness in walking, “Blind staggers.” Cramps in stomach with severe constipation (paralyzed bowels); nothing goes up to vomit and nothing goes down in order to evacuate the bowels. Weakness of facial muscles. Dizziness. 

Sarracenia| Aborts smallpox and arrests the pustules and the scrofulous eruptions. Visual disorders, congestion of the head, light headed or a sensation that there has been a knock to the head, drowsiness and staggering gait.

DrugMega.com | Researchers believe that food handled with surfaces made of coppers could significantly reduce the risk of the outbreak in the near future.

Researchers believe that a copper surface can greatly reduce the rapid proliferation of viruses and bacteria. Though it cannot be an ultimate defense against the breakout yet use of copper can greatly benefit against food borne diseases.

The study researcher and a microbiologist Bill Keevil from the University of Southampton in UK and his colleagues in a 2006 study, placed on a copper surface 10 million E. coli O157cells, a notorious food-borne bacteria strain. All the bacteria were killed in an hour or so. Recently, the researchers found that a copper surface can kill other dreadful strains of E. coli bacteria in near about 10 minutes.

• The Environmental Protection Agency pronounced copper as an antimicrobial material, in 2008. Though it is destructive for microorganisms, it poses least health hazards to humans in general.
• Many hospitals have started using copper bars, handles and railings in the premises to reduce the risk of infections. Many researchers are putting their efforts find a way to fight contamination by producing solutions containing copper in which food items can be dipped and purged of microorganisms.
• The research professor of food sciences Salam Ibrahim and his colleagues, from North Carolina A & T State University, last year conducted a study that found that low concentrations of copper combined with lactic acid on the surface of tomatoes and lettuces can help kill E. coli O157. Salam Ibrahim and his colleagues hope to make their solution for commercial use for the benefit of public health.

Headache with a sensation that head was split open. Fever and shaking chills, worse morning. General chill between the shoulder blades w/weakness. Pains in back zig-zag from lumbar to middle of the scapula. Hands hot. Chills, heat and sweat about 5pm w/skin hot and dry. Perspires freely. Vertigo w/cramps in neck worse at night. Eyes feel swollen and sore. Photophobia. Hungry all the time even after meals. Flushed face. Morning diarrhea, faint after stools. Tuberculosis and bronchial disorders. Continual tickling in throat; suffocation and nosebleeds. Coughing so hard that it is felt in the chest and down to the bowels.

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SOTT.Net | Most Virulent Strain of E.coli Ever Seen Contains DNA Sequences from Plague Bacteria by Veronika Hackenbroch, Samiha Shafy & Frank Thadeusz Der Spiegel Tue, 31 May 2011 00:00 CDT

Germany's E. coli epidemic, which has killed as many as 15 people so far, has alarmed doctors, who have never seen such an aggressive intestinal bacteria before. Epidemiologists are desperately searching for the origin of the deadly bacteria. 

The eeriest thing of all, according to Rolf Stahl, is the way patients change. "Their awareness becomes blurred, they have problems finding words and they don't quite know where they are," says Stahl. And then there is this surprising aggressiveness. "We are dealing with a completely new clinical picture," he notes. 

Stahl, a 62-year-old kidney specialist, has been the head of the Third Medical Clinic and Polyclinic at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE) for almost 18 years. "But none of us doctors has ever experienced anything quite like this," he says. His staff has been working around the clock for the last week or so. "We decide at short notice who can go and get some sleep." 

The bacterium that is currently terrifying the country is an enterohemorrhagic strain of the bacterium Escherichia coli (EHEC), a close relative of harmless intestinal bacteria, but one that produces the dangerous Shiga toxin. All it takes is about 100 bacteria -- which isn't much in the world of bacteria, which are normally counted by the millions -- to become infected. After an incubation period of two to 10 days, patients experience watery or bloody diarrhea. 

'The Situation Is Deteriorating Dramatically' 

But Stahl only sees the most severe cases, those in which EHEC also attacks the blood, kidneys and brain. These patients suffer from a life-threatening complication known as hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS). About 10 days after the diarrhea begins, the red blood cells suddenly disintegrate, blood clotting stops working and the kidneys fail. In many cases patients need dialysis to stay alive. 

"The situation is deteriorating dramatically for our patients," says Stahl. "And the worst thing is that we don't know what's causing it." 

In Germany, about 60 people a year contract hemolytic-uremic syndrome after being infected with EHEC. Last week, there were as many cases in a single day. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), the national German institution responsible for disease control and prevention, there were 276 HUS patients in German hospitals by Friday. 

By Tuesday there were 373 confirmed cases of HUS across Germany. As many as 15 people may have died from EHEC in Germany so far in the current outbreak. Cases have also been reported in Sweden, Denmark, Britain, Austria and the Netherlands. Meanwhile Russia has banned imports of cucumbers, tomatoes and fresh salad from Spain and Germany. 

Impressive Detective Work 

The story of the outbreak began in Stahl's clinic. When the first patient suspected of having contracted HUS was admitted there on a Wednesday evening two weeks ago, none of the doctors had any idea what they were facing. "We weren't even thinking of EHEC at first," says Stahl, "because it normally only affects children." In adults, on the other hand, HUS can also be caused by genetic defects and autoimmune diseases, or as a side effect of cancer treatment. 

By the next day, however, there were suddenly seven or eight cases in the ward, and the laboratory reported that they were all infected with EHEC. Hamburg promptly notified the Robert Koch Institute. 

The process that began at that point and reached its preliminary climax at the end of last week with the closing of two vegetable production operations in Spain is an example of impressive epidemiological detective work. It involves close cooperation among vigilant doctors, epidemiologists thinking practically and detail-oriented laboratory scientists. 

For the disease control experts at the RKI, it was primarily a matter of addressing two tasks simultaneously and as quickly as possible: to find the contaminated food products and to determine the type of bacterium involved. 

Extremely Rare 

Helge Karch, the director of the RKI's EHEC consulting laboratory at the Münster University Hospital in western Germany, has devoted almost his entire life as a researcher to EHEC bacteria. "But I've never encountered something like this," he says. 

The first stool sample arrived in his lab on Monday. The first cases had already appeared in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia by then. 

Karch's staff members began their analysis right away. The result was clear by Wednesday evening: It was the extremely rare serotype O104:H4. 

Karch spent a sleepless night in front of his computer. The serotype he had identified was so rare that he had only encountered it once in three decades. But had this bacterium ever triggered an epidemic before? 

After searching through a database for medical journals, Karch found only one article under the search term "O104:H4": a case study from Korea. In the Korean case, as in most of the German cases, an adult woman had contracted EHEC, which is completely atypical for EHEC. 

Plague DNA 

Karch kept himself awake with coffee, and to relax he went for walks with his German shepherd. "Can you imagine what I'm going through?" he wrote in an email to Phillip Tarr at Washington University in St. Louis. His response came at 4:27 a.m.: "Epidemics are for younger men." Tarr, the second major EHEC expert next to Karch, had also never heard of an O104:H4 outbreak. 

In the email, Karch speculated over why the disease wasn't happening in children, as is normally the case, but only in adults. And why was the infection striking more people that ever before in Germany -- so many, in fact, that dialysis stations in several hospitals were almost full?

LINKS

• How Does Homeopathy Deal with E-coli Infection from Tainted Meat?
• E-Coli Threats Expand to Raw Milk and Many Other Foods
• Homeopathy Effective in Treating Neo-natal Pigs with Diarrhoea
• Mannose for Children With Vesicoureteral Reflux
• "Antibacterial Activity Of Homoeopathic Drugs In Vitro"
• E-Coli Blog
• Martin Bittman | Don't Blame The Sprouts