Preschooler hospitalized with serious symptoms

Another 4-year-old has been struck with E. coli 0157:H7. Drew’s mother thought he had the stomach flu when he started vomiting on Oct. 23. When bloody diarrhea followed, samples tested were negative for E. coli 0157:H7.
When he vomited several times in a 24-hour period with continued diarrhea that contained bloody mucus, Lisa took her son to a local physician’s assistant who sent him to Gothenburg Memorial Hospital for intravenous saline solution to combat dehydration and for blood samples.
Once E. coli was diagnosed, Drew began receiving intravenous fluids followed by the insertion of a catheter on Oct. 29 as his kidneys started to fail.
During this time, Drew also received two blood transfusions which boosted his hemoglobin levels. Hemoglobin is the respiratory pigment in red blood cells.
The preschooler was finally released from Good Samaritan on Nov. 5 when there was no more E. coli 0157:H7 evident in his stools. After arriving home, Lisa said Drew battled urinary tract infection from the catheter that was inserted when his kidneys started to shut down.
No one knows what caused the infection.