Kamryn’s Story
September, 2023
Location: Jonesborough, TN
Source: Appalachian State Fair Petting Zoo (Outbreak)
Disease: Shiga toxin-producing E.coli (STEC)
Age: 5yo
Days hospital: 2
Two of my children attended a school field trip to the Appalachian fairgrounds. Kingston age 7, attended on September 27, 2003 and Kamryn, age 5 attended the next day, September 28th. Part of this fieldtrip included petting farm animals. Lunch was served to the students and adequate hand washing stations were not available.
The symptoms began with a three of my children began by saying their stomachs were hurting, followed by becoming lethargic and then the diarrhea began. The stomach pain became severe and the diarrhea became bloody.
On September 28th, Kingston was the first to show symptoms. On October 2nd, I took him to his pediatrician. His diarrhea was slightly bloody, so we were sent home with a stool sample kit and would bring it back in for testing.
By that evening, his bowel movements appeared to be exclusively blood, so we took him to the emergency room. He was confirmed positive for E. Coli 0157:H7 and sent home. He was not given any pain medications or antibiotics, because pain meds slowed the gastrointestinal process and could increase the length of the infection. We were told the antibiotics would increase his chances of developing HUS.
On October 6th, we took Liam to the emergency room, the same day Kingston was discharged from the hospital. Kamryn was not taken to the emergency room until October 14th.
Kingston and Kamryn both suffered a STEC infection. Unfortunately Liam had a more severe outcome. On October 11th, he was diagnosed with Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome. E.coli 0157:H7 is a very infectious, virulent pathogen. Even though Liam never had contact with the farm animals, he developed a secondary infection from one of his siblings.
Liam was hospitalized October 6th and was discharged the night of October 10th. He was back in the hospital the next day, October 11th. He received 4 blood and 3 platelet transfusions. It took six days for Liam to go into complete renal failure. They started dialysis on October 17th, which lasted for 3 days.
He was released from the hospital on October 24th and then returned again October 27th due to acute pancreatitis. He was released for the final time on October 30th. He spent a total of 23 days in the hospital. Liam and I were so happy to be back at home, but the challenges continued. All the kids were exhibiting emotional trauma.
Kingston and Liam are now hyper vigilant when it comes to their bodies. They analyze every poop and every pain. They often call me into the bathroom when they poop to have me look at something they noticed, usually a change in color from the previous day. I have to reassure them daily that their bowel movements look normal and that most pains are probably just normal viral illnesses.
Kamryn has separation anxiety. She cries anytime we have to leave her with someone else. She thinks we won’t come back for a long time, because that happened when Liam was sent to the hospital.
Liam is currently waiting for insurance approval for behavioral therapy. Since going home from the hospital, he’s had numerous outbursts and is traumatized by medical environments.
As for the status of Liam’s kidneys, we won’t know until his annual check-up in October of 2024.
Liam was one of the four children who developed HUS in this STEC petting zoo outbreak at the Appalachian fairgrounds. A total of 64 STEC cases were identified, with 7 children being hospitalized; 3 of the 7 children were mine.
