Transplants

For most, the E.coli outbreak in Germany may be old news, but for us it's not in some faraway country - it's right next door. I can still hardly grasp the irony that we were in the vicinity at the time, eating out at restaurants, completely unaware.

I've wondered from the beginning just what really caused this whole thing - the worst in history. An article in The Economist has finally shed some light on it for me.

First, 39 people have died; over 3,000 have been infected; and ~800 have developed serious complications leading to kidney failure. Early predictions indicate most of these will need kidney transplants or will require dialysis for the rest of their lives. These were otherwise healthy people mostly between the ages of 20 to 50.

Germany's kidney transplant list stands at 8,000. Only 2,900 were conducted last year so I will try not to even think about the fact that perhaps none of those recently infected will get one.

In Germany, studies show that 80% of their population are willing to be organ donors, but only a fraction have completed the paperwork.

The source of this E. coli is definitely bean sprouts from an organic farm in northern Germany, but it seems the only ingredients were seeds and water.

The usual procedure for sprouting is steaming at 38 degrees Celsius which apparently makes it ripe for breeding bacteria.

But the big question is - How did it get there in the first place?

It usually comes from animal feces used in manure fertilizer or animal feces that has contaminated the water. Both have been ruled out. The organic farm has complied with the strictest regulations on hygiene.

The only conclusion appears to be that the seeds were contaminated. Apparently bacteria can lie dormant in seeds and once germinated can expand 100,000 times or more and cleaning them isn't enough to kill it.

As I understand it, there's really only one way to completely prevent it - irradiation, which kills up to 99.9% of most pathogens. And no it doesn't make your food radioactive. It's the same way some medical products are sterilized. I certainly don't know much about irradiation or pathogens, but beginning in 1963, the USDA approved irradiation of wheat and flour and over the years have added approval of irradiation for vegetables, spices, poultry and red meat. Irradiation is not as widely used in Europe, but I imagine we will be hearing more about that in the weeks to come.

In the US, about one in six will become infected with a food borne illness each year. Of those, 130,000 will end up in the hospital and about 3,000 will die from complications.

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According to organdonor.gov, there are currently over 110,000 Americans waiting for an organ. Eighteen of those die each day waiting, a new person is added to the list every 11 minutes, and 1 organ donor can save up to 8 lives.

You know how sometimes a tragedy can lead a person in a particular direction? When I worked at the hospital in El Dorado, the on-staff chaplain's son, who had just graduated from high school, was killed in an accident. He was young and healthy and his family had to make a quick and difficult decision about organ donation.

They decided to donate as many of his organs as possible. His liver, kidneys, and corneas gave hope to five strangers. As a result of this enormous loss, the father (the hospital chaplain) became an advocate for the organ donation program at our hospital. He counseled families who were facing that painful decision in the face of incredible loss. I suppose it's not only a way of coping, but an attempt to make something meaningful out of something so tragic.

Fortunately there are 86 million Americans signed up to be donors. I'm not one of them. I am certainly willing, but I've always thought it would be best for my family to make that final decision. I believe I will sign up and make it official.