PORTLAND, Ore. — The mother of a 4-year-old Oregon girl who died after being diagnosed with an E. coli infection says the first symptoms appeared two days before the Labor Day weekend, when Serena Profitt and her younger sister visited a public swimming pool and then threw up.
Rachel Profitt, of Otis, told The Oregonian that 2-year-old Hannah bounced back but Serena was sick again the next day. Both girls had fevers.
Over that weekend, Serena played outdoors and ate venison and pizza. The family was joined by friends, whose 5-year-old son, Bradley Sutton, later fell ill with an E. coli infection. Profitt says he and Serena swam in a pond in Lebanon and shared a sandwich.
The boy has been transferred from a Tacoma hospital to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where he was listed Friday in satisfactory condition.
Health investigators have said they do not expect ever to know just what made Serena sick.
It can take as much as 10 days for someone to show symptoms. Sources of infection can come from livestock manure, venison, tainted ground meat that is not cooked enough, alfalfa sprouts and tainted water in a lake, pond or swimming pool. Some forms of E. coli are more virulent than others.
A young girl from northwest Washington infected with E. coli died last week in a Seattle hospital.
A spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Health says tests so far show no link between her case and the Oregon cases. More tests will be done next week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Labor Day, Profitt said, Serena was complaining her stomach hurt, and she was going to the toilet frequently.
As Serena got worse, her mother took her to a hospital in McMinnville.
“I expected to go back home,” Profitt said. “We didn’t pack clothes — nothing.”
Instead, doctors said Serena’s kidneys were failing. She was rushed to a Portland hospital, where she was diagnosed with a type of kidney failure associated with the bacteria E. coli.
Profitt recalls her daughter saying, “I can’t be here; I want to go home,” and then losing the ability to speak.
On Monday, Serena had a stroke. Tests showed she had lost brain function.
Hospital workers dressed her in a teal Hello Kitty pajama set. Friends and family crowded into her room. Profitt and her husband lay for hours on the hospital bed, their daughter’s body between them. They fell asleep, and at 2 a.m. Tuesday a doctor pronounced Serena dead.
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