Why E.Coli is Scarier than the Monster in the Closet
1. It’s already inside you
No need to open a door. You let it open by having a digestive system.
E.coli is a part of normal gut flora. It lives in you. It waits for opportunity.
2. It’s an Opportunist with Ambition: Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome
Pathogenic strains acquire virulence factors (tools to fight the immune system and stay alive). The EHEC strain produces shiga-toxin. This toxin joins the bloodstream, taking a ride with the white blood cells to the glomerulus (filtration system in kidneys). They inhibit protein synthesis, then cause endothelial damage in the glomerulus and wreck your kidneys.
Your kidneys stop being able to clean your blood.
Red blood cells shred passing through clots. This leads to hemolytic uremic syndrome. You end up with anemia, a low platelet count, and kidney failure.
They weaponize your kidneys against you. A bacteria that lives with you everyday.
3. It Doesn’t Need Claws: It Has Toxins
The ETEC strain has heat liable and heat stable toxins. This causes mass fluid secretion and dehydration. Now diarrhea may not be dramatic, but electrolyte collapse and metabolic acidosis are a whole nother beast.
UPEC strain ascends the urethra, colonizes the bladder and goes as far as you’ll let it.
Gram negative rods. Pink on a slide. Indole positive. Clinically? Boring.
Undercooked beef. Unwashed lettuce. Cross-contamination cutting boards.
7. Like Pennywise, It Can Kill Children
EHEC outbreaks result in bloody diarrhea, pediatric HUS, dialysis and it doesn’t matter what age you are.
Water. Soil. Food. Your colon.
You cannot move to escape the monster.
Sincerely, a medical laboratory scientist student.
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