Published: September 26, 2007 10:47 am      

Seventh E. coli case confirmed in Floyd County

Health officials have expressed “full confidence” in the safety of Galena Elementary School and have encouraged school officials to keep the doors open in the wake of an

E. coli infection that has stricken seven students and possibly more.

Based on numbers, however, it’s clear some parents aren’t taking chances.

The school reported 55 students absent on Tuesday, a day after 43 students called in sick. The Tuesday absences represent about 14 percent of the student body at the kindergarten through fifth-grade school. Absences at the school are typically around the 2 percent mark for the year, according to data kept by the state Department of Education.

In a letter sent home to parents Tuesday, health officials instructed parents to only keep children home from school or day care if the child has had diarrhea in the last 24 hours.

Health officials believe the weekend likely interrupted the transmission of E. coli among students, and have reported that the most recent case was contracted on Sept. 17.

The first case of the E. coli infection was confirmed by the health department Friday. School officials brought in extra custodians and nurses to clean every surface and school buses as a precaution.

A source of the infection — most commonly transmitted through the ingestion of food contaminated with fecal material, including inadequately cooked beef, produce and unpasteurized dairy products or cider — has not been identified.

Bill Briscoe, assistant superintendent for operations and administration, said Monday that while the school facility has been deemed safe, no causes have been ruled out.

State officials are sending three more specialists to Floyd County to try to determine the cause — two food experts and an epidemiologist, The Evening News and The Tribune’s newsgathering partner WLKY-TV in Louisville reported.

One of the students, 6-year-old Sidney Jacobi, now needs dialysis because her kidneys are failing from the infection, according to WLKY.