BUENOS AIRES, Feb (IPS) – Famed as one of the world’s leading beef producers, Argentina holds the unfortunate record for the highest incidence of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS), an infectious disease caused by bacteria present in incompletely cooked foods, such as hamburgers.
With the arrival of summer, parents start worrying. Children love hamburgers, but the media regularly produce reports about families whose children are battling for their lives, after eating contaminated food, usually made from ground beef that was not thoroughly cooked.
The disease mainly affects children under five, producing watery, bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, paleness, irritability, difficulty urinating and, sometimes, convulsions. It can be fatal, or have serious long-term consequences like chronic kidney failure or neurological problems.
The bacterium responsible is an enterohaemorrhagic strain of Escherichia coli, found in raw meat, unpasteurised milk and contaminated water. But experts agree that in
“It is not entirely clear why
What is certain is that HUS is the principal cause of acute renal failure in
Rivas advocates carrying out information campaigns with clear messages to reduce the risks of infection, telling people to wash their hands after handling raw meat. She also recommends “monitoring the entire food chain from farm to consumer, especially the meat industry.”
However, for domestic consumption, sanitary controls are less stringent.
A study by Dr. Graciela Vallejo, head of nephrology at the Ricardo Gutiérrez Children’s Hospital, indicates that about 460 cases of HUS a year occur in
That may not sound like a big problem for
“
For instance in Chaco, one of the poorest provinces in Argentina, there are only 0.9 HUS infections per 100,000 children under five, while in
In an interview with IPS, Gabriel Lores of the Liga de Lucha contra el Síndrome Urémico Hemolítico (League Against HUS, or LUSUH) said that “the state should exercise better control over the chain of butchering and sales of beef,” but he added that “there are many vested interests in the industry that no one wants to challenge.”
“We know that exported beef is bacteria-free, but apparently contaminated beef is acceptable for the domestic market,” complained Lores, whose son survived HUS but needs to attend annual check-ups. The possibility that he may suffer long-term complications cannot yet be ruled out.
“The state carries out media campaigns, but does nothing to prevent contamination, and that isn’t fair because it shifts the responsibility entirely on to the consumer,” he protested.
Lores’ son Matías suffered his first symptoms of HUS in 2004, when he was five years old. “He had not eaten hamburgers, so we don’t know how he got infected,” his father said. Matías was seriously ill and was hospitalised for a month. “It was a nightmare, we thought we were going to lose him,” Lores said.
His son had to go on a dialysis machine, and had hallucinations, but gradually he recovered. His doctors say that once the bacterium is in the system, there is little to be done about it. Now Matías goes to the renal specialist every year to have an ultrasound scan of his kidneys and other tests, although he is out of danger.
But complications can turn up later on. That is what happened to the son of LUSUH president Carlos Seijo. Esteban became infected when he was six months old, in 1974, when HUS was virtually unknown. He recovered from the acute infection, but as a teenager he was diagnosed with chronic kidney failure, purely by chance.
His condition was not resolved until 2004, when Esteban was 30, and received a kidney transplant donated by his father.
