By Leeza Clark

A THIRD nursery has been caught up in the E. coli outbreak in Dunfermline.

However, there has been no rise in the number of people confirmed as having the infection, and the number of suspected cases has dropped.

Dr Neil Hamlet, consultant in public health medicine at NHS Fife, said yesterday the total of confirmed cases linked to the independently operated Careshare Nursery at Lauder College remained at nine.

Four of these confirmed cases are children being treated for kidney failure at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow and they all remain in a stable condition.

“Two of the confirmed cases also attended other nurseries—one at Lynburn Nursery and one at McLean Primary School Nursery, Dunfermline.

“Both children have been identified as a result of the screening exercise of staff and children at the Careshare Nursery,” he said.

Both these children are well and had no symptoms while attending these nurseries.”

Letters and leaflets on E. coli 0157 have been given to parents of children at Lynburn and McLean nurseries.

“A total of 26 people are currently regarded as being possible cases and are being followed up at home,” Dr Hamlet said.

The possible case total has, as expected, decreased because further investigation has confirmed a lack of any link to the outbreak for certain cases.

The 8 am to 10 pm NHS24 E. coli helpline—08000 28 28 36—received 68 calls on Tuesday.

To date, 347 specimens have been received and are being tested by the E. coli reference laboratory in Edinburgh.

Dr Hamlet did reiterate hygiene advice to help prevent the spread of the potentially life threatening infection.

“Preventing spread of E. coli 0157 infection between people depends on effective hand washing after using the toilet, before and after handling food and before eating.

“This needs to be supervised for younger children.

“I would like again to reinforce the importance of simple hygiene measures, in particular the need for all family members to wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water before eating and after visiting the toilet, and before and after preparing food,” he said.

The incident control team involving NHS Fife, Health Protection Scotland, Fife Council, Care Commission and others will meet again today.

On Tuesday there were several children marked absent at Lynburn nursery. Of 40 expected in the morning 28 were missing and from the 30 in the afternoon 23 were kept at home. Figures were expected to have risen again as cautious parents receive information.

Local councillor for the Linburn area, Mike Rumney, said it was natural for parents to be concerned but that the council was trying to reassure as many people as possible.

“It is my understanding that the two young boys did not attend Lynburn while suffering from the virus.

“One is on a dual location programme—Careshare in the morning and Lynburn in the afternoon, I believe.

“He hasn’t been attending at Lynburn since he was screened as part of the Careshare screening process which started on Friday (May 5).”

The councillor said he appreciated that some parents at Lynburn had “voted with their feet” and kept children out of school.

“At Lynburn attendance is less than it normally would be but I think that is only a natural reaction.”

Meanwhile, help and a friendly ear from people who have gone through a similar ordeal is available to parents and families from a voluntary group.

HUSH—Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome Help—was set up as a charity after the Wishaw outbreak.

The group is run primarily by volunteers with the co-ordinator, Ishbel Mackinnon as the only paid employee, to raise awareness of the bacterium and provide support to affected families.

“Like many people, I first heard of E. coli 0157 during the Wishaw outbreak and was saddened when a friend lost both her grandparents then.

“However, once the media coverage died down it was pushed to the back of my mind until 2000, when my son Jamie, who was 12 at the time, was one of over 250 youngsters attending a Scout Millennium Camp in Aberdeenshire,” she said.

Over a year of planning didn’t foresee the torrential rain which blighted the camp and cut the youngsters’ adventure short.

By the beginning of the week Jamie started having diarrhoea and terrible stomach cramps and by the following Friday it was confirmed that a cub who had attended the camp was in hospital suffering from kidney failure as a result of E.coli 0157.

Jamie and several others tested positive, which meant he missed several weeks of school and the testing of all family members for cross-contamination.

In this case all of the 20 children who were affected made a good recovery and Jamie has just completed his first year in computer art at Abertay University in Dundee. Mrs Mackinnon said the worst part was the helplessness of the situation.

“You are just watching your child suffer and you are not able to physically do anything to take away his pain.

“I think I always felt we are in a day and age when we assume that once they disagnose what the problem is they there will be treatment available. You expect something can be done to alleviate the suffering but with E. coli that just isn’t there.

“It is a frightening thing to happen to anyone.”

While no medical expert, she was heartened by the fact that one child has already left hospital and the others are stable.

And at least in that case the source had been identified, which was not always the case and often left families wondering if they had done something wrong.

“It does make you much more aware,” she said.

HUSH is on hand to offer a friendly ear and can also supply information to groups and teachers.

“We just like people affected to know that we exist and they can contact us.”

HUSH is on freephone 0800 731 4679.