After a stay in a mountain cabin that runs its own cheese factory, the son of a Trento family becomes seriously ill.
A two-year-old girl from Trento has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the Padua hospital since mid-July. It has to be artificially ventilated. Doctors spent weeks looking for the reason for his serious illness – now the first results from a laboratory in Rome are available: at the end of June, the child had consumed a piece of cheese made from raw milk, which contained strains of the bacteria Escherichia coli. The germs produce the so-called “Shigatoxin”. The child is being treated for hemolytic uremic syndrome (abbreviated STEC-HUS), which causes him to suffer, among other things, from acute kidney failure.
The girl was with her parents in an alpine hut in Coredo, just under an hour’s drive from Bolzano. A few days later, the child did not feel well. The first suspicion fell on the water – but examinations of more than 450 samples of all types of cheese that the Carabinieri removed from the dairy have already refuted this theory. According to Corriere del Trentino, the little girl’s mother said that her daughter didn’t eat the cheese that day, but only tasted a little piece.
Dairy operator is being investigated
Hemolytic uremic syndrome usually develops within one to five days, but severe symptoms can occur up to ten days after initial exposure to the bacteria. Contaminated food does not necessarily need to be consumed for infection by the pathogen, contact with the environment is enough, according to “Corriere del Trentino”.
As “Trento Today” reports, the Trento Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Italian health authority began the investigation shortly after the girl was urgently hospitalized. The mountain hut and cheese factory have been closed until further notice. The pastor, who, according to the mayor of Coredo, “goes through terrible hours”, is being investigated for serious bodily injuries and violation of the food law.
Browsing account 20 minutes Time02/09/2023, 9:17 pm | Act: September 2, 2023, 9:19 pm