Since 2nd May, 2011, there have been 642 cases of HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome) and 1,744 non-HUS STEC (bloody diarrhea caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli) in the European Union, according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Most of them have occurred in Germany (642 HUS and 1,683 nonHUS STEC cases).

16 patients with HUS have died, as have 7 patients with non-HUS STEC.

According to Medilexicon’s medical dictionary Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) is: “Hemolytic anemia and thrombocytopenia occurring with acute renal failure; in children, characterized by sudden onset of gastrointestinal bleeding, hematuria, oliguria, and microangiopathic hemolytic anemia; in adults, associated with complications of pregnancy following normal delivery, or associated with oral contraceptive use or with infection; often caused by infection with Escherichia coli.

Authorities say that in this outbreak the majority of HUS cases caused by STEC infection have occurred in adults, two thirds of them female. This is unusual, as it typically affects children under 5 years of age.

According to laboratory results, the causative agent is:
“STEC serogroup O104:H4 (Stx2-positve, eae-negative, hly-negative, ESBL, aat, aggR, aap).
PFGE results shows indistinguishable pattern of 7 human O104:H4 outbreak strains in Germany and 2 strains of O104:H4 in Denmark.” Although scientists do not yet know what the source of the outbreak is, they are almost completely sure it comes from some type of food eaten by humans.

The majority of illnesses and infections are from the North of Germany, mainly Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, North-Rhine-Westphalia and Hamburg. All reported cases outside Germany have a history of travel to northern Germany.

EU Member States reporting cases:

  • Austria
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 2
  • Czech Republic
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1
  • Denmark
    HUS cases – 7
    non-HUS STEC cases – 11
  • Finland
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1
  • France
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 10
  • Germany
    HUS cases – 642 (15 deaths)
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1683 (7 deaths)
  • Luxembourg
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1
  • The Netherlands
    HUS cases – 4
    non-HUS STEC cases – 4
  • Norway
    HUS cases – 0
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1
  • Poland
    HUS cases – 2
    non-HUS STEC cases – 0
  • Spain
    HUS cases – 1
    non-HUS STEC cases – 1
  • Sweden
    HUS cases – 15 (1 death)
    non-HUS STEC cases – 32
  • The United Kingdom
    HUS cases – 3
    non-HUS STEC cases – 8
  • Total
    HUS cases – 674 (16 deaths)
    non-HUS STEC cases 1755 (7 deaths)

Written by Christian Nordqvist