Nursery 'not to blame' for infection
Independent investigators have said they cannot pinpoint the source of an outbreak of E.coli 0157 in a Scottish nursery last year.
Careshare Lauder Nursery in Dumfermline was cleared of any negligence regarding the outbreak, which left five nursery children seriously ill in May 2006. The board of NHS Fife received an Incident Control Team (ICT) report and an independent review last week.
Dr Mike Roworth, author of the report and chairman of the ICT team, said, 'Despite detailed and exhaustive investigation, we concluded that it was not possible to say what the source of outbreak was, but the most likely scenario was a single introduction of the bacterium into the Careshare Lauder Nursery, followed by person-to-person spread.'
The report noted, 'Nurseries would need to have a standard of infection control approaching that in a surgical operating theatre in order to prevent the spread of E.coli 0157 infection. This is probably unattainable, given the need for nurseries to provide social interaction and stimulation for children.'
The nursery re-opened after a specialist cleaning company took away 200 yellow clinical waste sacks full of toys, linen and other items for destruction.
Managing director of Careshare Jonathan Bell said, 'Thankfully, the children involved in last year's E.coli outbreak have made a full recovery.'
