On June 16, a 12-year-old child died of a haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS), and six more children, aged between one and 12, were hospitalised with severe digestive symptoms (HUS and bloody diarrhoea) following a food poisoning outbreak in Saint-Quentin (Aisne, France) between June 13 and 18. Santé Publique France (SPF) and the Agence Régionale de Santé (ARS) of Hauts-de-France are conducting a biological investigation into the potential source of the infection. However, at this stage of the investigation, it appears that the children do not belong to the same community and have not eaten food from the same source. HUS is an infectious disease that is most often of food origin. It usually occurs as a complication of poisoning by a bacterium from the Escherichia coli (E. coli) family.
Giorgio Lo Conte
