‘Take him to the ER’; St. Louis County Health Department investigating E. coli involving high school event

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The St. Louis County Department of Public Health is investigating an E. coli outbreak affecting students and parents at Rockwood Summit High School.

Michele Dubrouillet said her 16-year-old son, Nolan, started having diarrhea and cramping on Tuesday. She took him to the emergency room at Mercy Hospital St. Louis after he experienced an alarming change to the diarrhea.

“When it started to become blood then I started to worry. And so I called the doctor this morning and the doctor’s advice was definitely take him to the E-R,” she said.

The St. Louis County Public Health Department has confirmed that the school was not the source of the outbreak and that the number of students and parents who have been infected is more then 20 and still rising.

Amanda Brzozowsky is the agency’s senior epidemiologist and is leading the investigation to find the source.

“There are a couple of strains that make people sick and this particular strain is one that can make people very sick,” she said.

Brzozowsky said the source of the outbreak is most likely an event held off campus where students and parents attended. Dubrouillet said her son attended an end-of-season banquet with other students on Thursday.

“A lot of his friends are just not feeling well and several of them have been hospitalized now,” she said.

DPH Communicable Disease Investigators and Environmental Health Inspectors are working to identify a possible source of exposure. The department conducts outbreak investigations by interviewing potential cases about their symptoms and possible exposures, such as food history, recent travel, events attended, animal , etc.

The Rockwood School District released the below statement regarding on Thursday:

“On Nov. 13, Rockwood was notified by the St. Louis County Department of Public Health that several cases of E. Coli affecting students and parents from Rockwood Summit High were suspected to be tied to an off-campus event. We worked with the STLDPH to notify all staff and families of students who attended the event of the suspected cases, what symptoms to look for and if they were to experience symptoms, to their health care provider right away.

As an added precaution, we sent additional of our facilities team to do a deep cleaning that evening at Rockwood Summit High that included spraying classrooms and common areas with special attention to disinfecting all bathrooms and doorknobs. The well-being of our staff and students is always a top priority, and we appreciate the partnership with county health officials to ensure that well-being and safety.”

DPH says symptoms usually begin 2 to 5 days after exposure and can last 5 to 10 days. The most common E. coli O157 infection symptoms include severe diarrhea (often bloody) and painful abdominal cramps. According to DPH, antibiotics should not be used to treat an E. coli 0157 infection because they can increase the likelihood of developing a severe complication called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure, neurologic damage, and in some cases, death.

If you think you may be sick with E. coli, your healthcare provider immediately.

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