The Times-Mail News did a story on fifteen-month-old Skylar Rudolph who was diagnosed with E. coli, an infection, and began to get sick exactly three weeks ago today. Skylar’s one kidney shut down, and she was on dialysis nearly every hour. With the help of IV antibiotics, she is recovering and may get to come home Monday.
From the article:
Another case of E. coli in a child prompted Ruthellen Lane to voluntarily close the day care, Kiddie Lane Childcare, where both children attend.
“We were closed (on Aug. 25),” Lane said. “I chose to close because I knew the little girl came from here and another girl, too. I chose to close to make sure it wasn’t anything here.
“The health department came in and state licensing and did not find anything, and told us to reopen the next day. They went through menus and came in and checked the cleanliness of the place.”
That’s just what the facility did. It reopened to normal hours of 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“At the time when I closed, I was the only common factor they had between the two girls,” she said.
A local health official said there does not appear to be a common factor between the two cases, and the local health department has completed its portion of the investigation.
“As of now, there is no determination where it originated from,” said Lawrence County Public Health Nurse Lori Day. “Currently there is no threat to any day-care facilities in the area or the public. Of course if there were any threat to the public we would notify the public or the community.”
Day did confirm that there were two cases of the illness in the county.
“It’s a bacteria that grows in the stomach of healthy cattle and other animals and oftentimes someone can get it from undercooked foods,” she added. “It also can be passed from one person to another if proper handwashing techniques aren’t done properly.
“There is no evidence that the cases are from a day care.”
Candi Rudolph said officials told her family that Skylar could have even picked up the bacteria from touching a toy or shopping car.
“We may never know,” she added. “There’s just so many ways.”
She continued that if she puts Skylar back into day care, where she has attended since three months of age, it will be the same place.