Parent Initiates Class-Action Lawsuit Following E. Coli Outbreak at Calgary Daycares

More than 100 toddler, pre-school children infected with a dangerous strain of the bacteria

A colorized 2006 scanning electron microscope image shows E. coli bacteria of the O157:H7 strain that produces a powerful toxin that can cause illness. Janice Haney Carr/CDC via AP

A class-action lawsuit has been initiated following what experts call a “historic” E. coli outbreak at nearly a dozen Calgary daycares, which sent up to 50 children to hospital and infected more than 100 children with the dangerous bacteria.

Calgary lawyer Maia Tomljanovic, who focuses on medical malpractice, personal injury, and professional negligence, filed the lawsuit on Sept. 8 at the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta, with one parent serving as the representative plaintiff, reported the National Post.

“As a result of negligence, unsanitary and unsafe food storage, preparation and handling practises, it resulted in these students suffering,” Ms. Tomljanovic alleged.

Ms. Tomljanovic said she expects more parents will join, as she has spoken to dozens of parents whose children were infected and was aware there are many others. She added that a class-action lawsuit is a common course of action when there are large numbers of individuals impacted by an event.

“It can be very difficult for the courts to handle the numerous individual claims being litigated at the same time,” she said.

Parents are focused right now on their children recovering from the outbreak, she added.

 Daycares Sharing Central Kitchen

Alberta Health Services (AHS) first declared an E. coli outbreak on Sept. 4 for six locations of a Calgary daycare operated by Fueling Brains and five additional sites that share a central kitchen. At the time, there were 17 lab-confirmed cases linked to the outbreak, 12 children hospitalized, and up to 50 children presenting to hospital.

As of Sept. 8, there were 142 lab-confirmed cases from 11 Calgary daycares, according to AHS, which was up from 128 just one day prior, although four of those 11 sites had no reported cases and may be allowed to reopen on Sept. 11.

Calgary’s medical officer of health Dr. Francesco Rizzuti said on Sept. 8 that the daycares would only reopen if officials were “confident that health and safety will not be affected.” He said the health and safety of the children and staff were the “absolute top priority.”

As of Sept. 8, there were still 26 children in two hospitals in Calgary, while five had been discharged.

Dr. Rizzuti said 11 of the hospitalized patients have serious illness, a “small number” are on dialysis, but all of the children on in-patient units are stable.

The other seven facilities could be allowed to reopen on Sept. 12, Dr. Rizzuti said, but all staff and children would have to show proof of a negative E.coli test before they can return. In addition, they would not be permitted to attend other child-care facilities, he said.

Serious Strain

A closure order was issued by AHS for the six locations of Fueling Brains, including Braeside, West 85th, New Brighton, Centennial, Bridgeland, and McKnight, as well as five additional sites that included Braineer Academy, Kidz Space, Little Oak Early Education, Almond Branch School, and Vik Academy in Okotoks.

The Sept. 4 AHS health advisory also said families with children attending any of these centres were being sent letters advising of the outbreak and being asked to monitor for symptoms, with instructions to take their child to a hospital emergency department if necessary.

According to AHS, the primary symptom of E. coli is diarrhea, which may be bloody, and symptoms typically start one to 10 days after eating food contaminated with the E. coli bacteria. Antibiotics are neither necessary or helpful for this infection, AHS said, and while most individuals improve on their own within 10 days, some may develop more severe complications.

Children, along with the elderly and the immunocompromised, are at greater risk of complications from this particular strain of E.coli, said AHS.

Shiga-toxin producing E. coli is a strain of the E. coli species of bacteria that is highly infectious and can cause life-threatening illness that is challenging to treat, according to Health Canada.

Dr. Stephen Freedman, an emergency physician at Alberta Children’s Hospital and professor in the Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary, said the children contracted a type of E. coli 0157.

This strain of the bacteria secretes a toxin known as Shiga that can cause organ damage and is more serious than the typical strain of E. coli that only causes two or three days of watery diarrhea, vomiting, or abdominal cramps.

About 20 percent of children infected with this more serious form of E. Coli develop a condition called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), said Dr. Freedman, which affects the kidneys and causes blood clots.

“We are seeing some HUS cases,” he said. “The typical course is that the children have significant abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes they get dehydrated early on.”

By Sept. 9, there were 164 lab-confirmed cases linked to the E. coli outbreak and 27 children were in hospital, with six discharged, Global News reported. AHS also said 19 children had been confirmed to have severe illness and HUS, which was affecting their kidneys and blood-clotting functions.

Source Under Investigation

One Calgary parent, John Greenbow, said his 2-year-old son, Emmett, was infected with E. coli at one of the Fueling Brains daycares but did not require hospital stay.

He said his son had some elevated platelet levels and blood in his urine, which indicated “his kidneys are fighting the toxicity that’s caused by this specific E. coli bacteria.”

Mr. Greenbown said he would consider legal action once his son recovers.

AHS officials say they are still investigating the source of the outbreak and testing and collecting samples from the central kitchen that supplied food to the daycares.

“Based on the epidemiology of the cases we’ve seen to date, it is highly likely the source of this outbreak is food that was distributed from the central kitchen,” AHS said in a statement on Sept. 9.

The agency said it had not identified the exact food item that infected the children.

Faisal Alimohd, co-founder and chairman of Fueling Brains, said he’s saddened that children are sick and immediately began working with AHS to investigate the outbreak.

“Though not all Fueling Brains child-care campuses are currently classified as being on outbreak status by AHS, we have proactively closed all potentially impacted locations as a precaution,” Mr. Alimohd said in a statement.

“The exact source of the outbreak has not been identified, but we will be reviewing our policies, procedures and sourcing related to food services for our facilities.”

Mr. Alimohd and co-founder Anil Karim issued a statement on Sept. 8 saying they were aware of the legal action but that the “health and safety of our children, parents and staff continues to be our priority.”

“The exact source of the outbreak has still not been identified and we are continuing to review our policies, procedures and sourcing related to food services for our facilities.” said the daycare operators.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.