Wash hands thoroughly to protect young children from E. coli O157 on farm visits

Visiting farms is a popular outing for young children and their family.

Many city farms are free, whilst bigger tourist attractions allow access and feeding to larger, more exotic animals.

But parents are being warned to make sure that all the family’s hands have been thoroughly washed.

Hand washing has been found to be the most effective way to reduce the risk of infection from farm visits.

Hand sanitisers and gels are useful back-ups, but should not be as a replacement to hand washing.

A review by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) found there have been 55 outbreaks of  gastrointestinal disease, directly linked to petting farms between 1992 to 2009 in England and Wales.

This may not sound many, but from those 55 outbreaks, 1,328 people were affected, with 113 hospitalised.

The infections ranged from mild to severe dioahorea through to the potentially deadly E. coli O157.

Whilst for the most people the E. coli O157 infection usually clears within seven days, children under five are vulnerable to a serious condition called haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) that affects the blood, kidneys and in severe cases, the central nervous system.

Research published in Emerging Infectious Diseases back in  December, finds that although the overall risk of infection is low, more children were affected as they are more vulnerable to serious illness from these infections.

Pre-school and reception aged children, are more likely to pick up infections due to less developed personal hygiene and a penchant for sticking grubby toys, thumbs and dummies in their mouth.

A lack of handwashing facilites and physical contact with pre-weaned animals – such as lambs, calves and kid goats – or direct contact with the animal faeces of animals such as cattle, sheep and goats were contributory factors.

Lead author of the research, Dr Fraser Gormley, an epidemiologist from the department of gastrointestinal, emerging and zoonotic Infections at the HPA said: “Visiting a farm is an enjoyable and educational experience for many people, particularly children. But it’s important to remember that contact with farm animals carries a risk of infection because of the microorganisms – or germs – they naturally carry.

“Avoiding direct contact with animals and their droppings is the surest way of avoiding infection but appropriate awareness of hygiene and supervision of children by parents and teachers will help to ensure that children do not become ill as a result of farm visits.

“Handwashing is the single most important prevention step in reducing transmission of gastrointestinal infections after handling animals and it’s crucial that hand washing in young children should be supervised, especially after touching or petting animals or their surroundings on a visit to a farm.

“Visitors should also be made aware that using sanitising gels is not a substitute for washing hands with soap and hot water and drying them, as gels may fail to remove contamination in the way that soap and running water can. However it is likely that using sanitising gels following handwashing with soap and water may provide extra benefit.”