Water, Dialysis Only Treatments for Europe E. Coli Outbreak
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Doctors treating the world’s deadliest E. coli outbreak have little beyond water and dialysis machines to help them clear the contagion from patients, according to infectious disease specialists.
The new strain of E. coli, which has killed at least 18 people in Europe, produces a poisonous by-product called shiga toxin that damages the kidneys of some patients and requires the use of dialysis to scrub the blood clean. Some patients need transfusions after the bacteria dissolves their red blood cells, said Robert Tauxe, deputy director of food-borne illness at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.