Conwy E.coli cases prompt screening at childcare providers

Dr Graham Brown said E.coli O157 "is a very serious infection"

Two childcare providers in Conwy county have shut temporarily after a family were infected with E.coli.

Public Health Wales say three members of the same family are infected and two places have voluntarily closed in a bid to stop the infection spreading.

The source of the E.coli O157 cases are unknown but Conwy council is offering precautionary screening to children and staff who also attend the providers.

The three people infected are said to be "recovering well at home".

"E.coli O157 is a very serious infection that causes very severe diarrhoea, sometimes with blood in it, abdominal cramps and fever," said Dr Graham Brown, from Public Health Wales.

"In children, it can cause kidney failure that can prove fatal."

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Dr Brown added that it is "not uncommon" for this strain of the disease to be associated with children having contact with farm animals

He said the infection can also be contracted by "eating contaminated food or drinking unpasteurised milk".