E. coli HUS Topics

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Children and HUS Kidney Failure from E. coli O157:
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E coli HUS VideoOur law firm represents children who suffer hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) after consuming food or water contaminated with E. coli bacteria, usually E. coli O157:H7. We pursue the company (or companies) responsible for the HUS, a severe illness that causes kidney failure, to hold them accountable for the damage they have done to the child and to obtain money needed to pay the child’s medical expenses and compensate the child, as much as possible, for the pain and suffering the child has and will experience.

Children and HUS Kidney Failure

A child consumes food or water contaminated with E. coli bacteria, which infects the child's intestines and produces a poison called Shiga toxins. At first the child has diarrhea, often bloody, and severe abdominal cramping. Those symptoms may subside, but the child is still listless and may have unexplained bruises or bleeding from the nose or mouth. The Shiga toxins have made their way to the bloodstream and have started to destroy red blood cells, and possibly platelets. The damaged red blood cells clog tiny blood vessels in the kidneys, making them work harder to remove wastes and extra fluid from the blood. This damages the kidneys and often causes kidney failure. Read information on treatment for a child with HUS.

Some young HUS victims develop chronic kidney disease. All of them are at risk for future medical problems related to the E. coli infection and resulting HUS.

HUS Complications in Children

HUS kidney failure leads to a multitude of serious health problems because the toxins that would have been eliminated from the body in urine end up in the blood. This build up of toxins is called uremia. These uremic toxins are basically poison to the body, hence the term uremic poisoning is often used to describe hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). HUS is sometimes accompanied by thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), which is also associated with kidney failure and central nervous system (CNS) injuries.

Possible complications of HUS include those below (not a definitive list of possible problems):

  • HUS hemorrhagic stroke occurs when a blood vessel in your brain leaks or ruptures. Hemorrhagic strokes result in tissue injury by causing compression of tissue from an expanding hematoma or hematomas. This can distort and injure tissue. In addition, the pressure may lead to a loss of blood supply to affected tissue with resulting infarction, and the blood released by brain hemorrhage appears to have direct toxic effects on brain tissue and vasculature.
  • HUS-associated seizures can be caused by kidney failure and the resulting uremia. The seizures are a sign that the body is being poisoned. HUS seizures can be caused by factors other than uremia, including by a high fever.
  • Encephalopathy is a term used when there is brain disfunction or alteration. HUS encephalopathy is usually related to the uremia associated with HUS kidney failure (renal failure). When the kidneys fail, toxins the body should have excreted in urine get into the blood and circulate throughout the body. One of the areas most often damaged is the central nervous system (CNS). When uremia is the cause of the encephalopathy, it is called uremic encephalopathy, metabolic encephalopathy or toxic-metabolic encepalopathy.1
  • Kidney failure can affect heart function, leading to a heart attack and/or congestive heart failure.

Free Consultation with Lawyer

HUS victims, including children, have legal rights, including the right to seek compensation for medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of quality of life. Our attorneys represent children nationwide. If your son or daughter has HUS, contact our attorneys for a free consultation: call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our free consultation form.

Contact Pritzker Olsen

Resources:

1. Jörres, Achim, Management of Acute Kidney Problems, p. 198.

Keywords: HUS kidney failure, stroke, seizures, coma, encephalopathy, HUS renal failure, uremia, uremic poisoning, hemorrhagic stroke, CNS damage, wrongful death, E. coli O157:H7, hemolytic anemia, HUS and TTP, attorney, lawyer, E. coli HUS lawsuit.

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