Parents struggle as 27 hospitalized in Calgary daycare E. coli outbreak

Stephanie Ivey was shocked to hear the words 'E. coli outbreak' come out of the admitting nurse's mouth when she brought her 22-month-old daughter to Rockyview Hospital in Calgary on Sunday afternoon.

Until then the only information she had received from Fuelling Brains Braeside, the daycare both her daughter and 3-year-old son attend, was regarding a one-off case of foot-and-mouth disease the week prior. 

"I felt like a terrible mom because if I had known there was E. coli at the [daycare], I would have brought her in much sooner."

Ivey's daughter, whose name CBC is withholding for privacy, was lethargic and had no appetite throughout the day on Saturday. Then she began to vomit and had multiple bouts of diarrhea. 

That was a week ago. Now, Ivey's daughter is in serious condition. She has to have blood work done every 12 hours, and hasn't been able to eat since Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, Ivey was asked to sign blood transfusion paperwork — her daughter's hemoglobin levels are so low that her doctors believe she may need a transfusion to help her continue to battle the infection. 

Ivey's daughter is one of 27 patients currently hospitalized after an outbreak of shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) forced the closure of 11 daycare sites in Calgary over the Labour Day weekend. Of those hospitalized, 19 are confirmed to be fighting "severe illness" or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a serious complication of STEC that affects multiple organs, according to an AHS statement released Saturday afternoon. 

The health-care agency said that it is "highly likely" that the 164 lab-confirmed cases of E. coli in the city are a result of food contamination in a central kitchen that a number of the daycare sites share. 

"Based on the epidemiology of the cases we've seen to date, it is highly likely the source of this outbreak is food that was distributed from the central kitchen," the AHS statement reads.

"AHS has collected food samples for testing and awaiting results. At this time AHS has not been able to identify with certainty the exact food item that was the source. We continue to investigate."

Ivey said she was frustrated to hear the news that the likely cause of the outbreak is from the food her children ate at daycare. 

"We chose this [daycare] for a number of reasons: the teachers are lovely, the programs are lovely, but one of the big things for us too, was the food that they were going to be feeding our kids," she said.

"I wanted them to have healthy, nutritious meals while they weren't at home. I was sending them to what I thought was a safe, fun place."

Dr. Stephen Freedman, a professor of pediatrics and emergency medicine at the University of Calgary, told CBC News that the age of the children infected, the strain of E. coli they are infected with, and the sheer number of cases are the three main factors that make this outbreak so severe.