Eight patients, including six children, who were hospitalized after an E. coli outbreak at a day camp have been released.
The kids, along with a youth counselor and an adult from the Palisades Country Day Camp & School, were treated for dehydration, said representatives from Hackensack University Medical Center and Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
Most of the patients were 5-year-old girls, but as many as 14 children and staff members may have been infected E. coli O157:H7, according to The Record. State health officials are continuing to investigate the camp to find the source of the infections.
The camp, which shut down Wednesday as a result of the outbreak, will remain closed through next week, said director Patricia Luttrell, speaking through a staff member.
There are about 50,000 to 75,000 cases of E. coli infections in the United States each year, said Dr. Jeffrey Kocher, an infectious disease specialist at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center.
Anyone can become infected with the highly contagious bacteria, which are often contracted by ingesting undercooked meat, raw milk or contaminated water, but it is particularly dangerous for children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. About 10 percent of infections can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome, a debilitating kidney disease, and about 10 percent of those cases can result in death.