Midleton crèche closed after outbreak of E.coli

A Co Cork crèche has been temporarily closed because of a likely case of E.coli infection in a toddler.

First Steps in Midleton, which caters for children from the age of three months and which also runs an after-school service, was shut as a precaution against the spread of Verotoxigenci E.coli (VTEC).

VTEC is a strain of E.coli that can lead to a severe gut infection with bloody diarrhoea. In extreme cases, it can cause kidney failure.