What is E. coli and why is it poisoning my spinach?
Escherichia coli are bacteria that set up shop in the intestines of most warm-blooded animals, thriving in guts of everyone from the family dog to Paris Hilton. They are thus considered part of our "normal flora:" bacteria that live in healthy people and help ward off disease by out-competing more nasty bugs (this is why people on heavy doses of antibiotics often end up with diarrhea--the drugs wipe out their normal flora, leaving plenty of uninhabited intestine for disease-causing bacteria take over).
Our relationship with our resident E. coli is ordinarily a benign one--they get to eat our crap, we get to avoid more serious bacterial infections. However, as the recent outbreak of deadly spinach has shown, E. coli isn't always harmless. These bacteria can cause three potentially serious illnesses in humans: urinary tract infections, newborn meningitis, and, as is the case with the spinach outbreak, gastrointestinal disease.
First, it's important to realize that not all E. coli are created equal. The bacteria come in over 700 different strains, and only a small minority of those cause people problems. Each different strain is outfitted with a distinct arsenal of bacterial weaponry used to infect its chosen host. The bacterial weapons include everything from defensive capsules that deflect the host immune response to offensive toxins that allow destruction of cells.
Five types of E. coli are equipped to do serious damage to the human gut, and all have seriously sweet names. Often acquired from unwashed fruits and veggies in developing countries, Enterotoxigenic E. coli attaches to the surface of the intestine and causes that watery curse known as Traveler's Diarrhea (aka Montezuma's Revenge, Delhi Belly, Tourista, and the Turkey Trots). This illness is usually self-limited, although dehydration can be a dangerous problem. Enteroaggerative, Enteroinvasive, and Enteropathogenic E. coli are also associated with diarrheal disease in humans.
The bug involved in the spinach outbreak is Enterohemmorrhagic E. Coli (EHEC), the most feared of the E. coli strains. Unlike the other strains, which need at least a million bugs to cause infection, as few as ten EHEC cells can wreck havoc on the gastrointestinal tract. In addition to causing bloody diarrheal illness, EHEC can also lead to something called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, which roughly translates to "major badness."
Essentially, your blood cells get totally demolished and clog up your kidneys, causing them -- and potentially you -- to shut down entirely. Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome is also known as "Hamburger Disease," because it often develops from E. coli consumed in undercooked hamburger meat (you may remember it from such epidemics as the Jack in the Box outbreak of 1993). However, EHEC can also be contracted from unpasturized milk and apple juice, alfalfa sprouts, and other raw veggies.
How to avoid an infection with EHEC? Most of the serious cases occur in the very old and the very young, but everyone should be alert to the potential danger of infection. The Centers for Disease Control recommends cooking all ground meat thoroughly, avoiding unpasturized beverages, and washing all raw vegetables. Unfortunately, washing isn't enough to fully decontaminate your veggies, so with the current spinach epidemic you may want to keep your inner Popeye at bay for a little while.
Anne Mills is a Cavalier Daily Health & Sexuality Columnist. She can be reached at mills@cavalierdaily.com or through the Sex & Balances submission page at cavalierdaily.com/sex.asp. This column is used for educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute advice from your doctor.
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