Additional daycares in Calgary closed due to E. coli

More children have tested positive for E. coli at six additional Calgary kindergartens, according to Alberta's chief medical officer of health.

Dr. Mark Joffe released the statement late Friday night said that facilities will be closed with great caution.

Active Start Country Hills, CanCare Childcare's Scenic Acres location, CEFA Early Learning Childcare South, MTC Daycare, Renert Junior Kindergarten and Calgary JCC Childcare are all temporarily closed.

Joff also says Vic Academy, which was part of the original closures and has since reopened, was closed again as a precaution pending test results.

Each site must be cleaned and sanitized before opening its doors again, and children are tested to confirm they are negative before returning.

All facility operators have been contacted and Joff says parents of those facilities will be notified as soon as possible by the operators working with Alberta Health Services.

ORIGINAL ORIGINAL LINK

Joff said some of the children who tested positive at the participating centers have been enrolled in daycare centers since the initial outbreak.

“To all the parents involved in this horrific situation, we hear you and understand what you are going through,” her office said in a statement. “However, it is very important for parents with children attending these kindergartens to follow the instructions given by health professionals.

“If your daycare is closed,” she added, “respect why it's being done and keep your kids home.” Refer your child to another facility only if the E. coli test is negative and there are no symptoms.”

The statement asks all daycare operators in the Calgary area to confirm the health and daycare history of new children entering the facility.

“By working together and following public health guidelines, we will stop this epidemic.”

NEW CASES

As of September 4, there were 342 laboratory-confirmed cases of the bacterial infection.

Twelve children are still in hospital Friday, 10 they include hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which affects the blood and kidneys.

Six of them were receiving dialysis.

SUPPORT GROUP

Two Alberta parents are reaching out to help victims of the latest outbreak, saying they've “been through hell.”

Teagan Rogers, who lives in Crossfield, says her son Rhett contracted E. coli last October. Various difficulties arose with it.

“It can attack every part of your body, and unfortunately it did for my son,” Rogers told CTV News. “He was very sick. He cried for days. It was a nightmare.”

Rhett spent a week in the hospital with HUS.

He was put on dialysis after his liver failed and complications attacked his brain. He made it home, but the two-year-old has chronic kidney disease and various developmental delays.

Rogers says her family's trauma took her back when she heard about the latest developments in the province.

“I hurt for these families,” she said. “I'm angry.”

That's the emotion of Airdrie Christina McAleer, whose daughter Charlie was affected by the October outbreak.

Charlie also spent time in the hospital and will be dealing with various blood levels for the rest of his life.

“You really can't get closure on that,” McAleer said Saturday. “They told us that she would have to be tested every year for the rest of her life and that (if she got pregnant) she could have problems.”

It's all part of how moms are coming together to help those affected right now.

The McAleer Group — the YYC HUS parent support group on Facebook — brought in some of those affected by the recent outbreak.

They also ask all parents to look for early warning signs that something may be wrong with their child's health.

These include obvious symptoms like bloody diarrhea, but less obvious ones like stomach pain, lethargic vision, and loss of appetite.

“We have to do better for our kids,” Rogers said. “We need better communication, better policies. Because things like this shouldn't happen, especially in a kindergarten setting.”

With Canadian Press files