Hemolytic–Uremic Syndrome in a Grandmother

Lane C Crawford,Mark L Crawford,Sean R Moore

doi:10.3201/eid1611.091464

Abstract

In the spring of 2007, just weeks before my college graduation, my parents called to tell me that my grandmother was sick. I was worried to hear that she was in the hospital, but like the rest of my family, I had little doubt that she’d be better in no time. At a spry 82 years, my grandmother was the picture of health. She was a nonsmoker, a nondrinker, and had had no medical problems except for mild asthma. A world traveler, avid gardener, and savvy businesswoman, she has been known to do her grocery shopping, attend a bank board meeting, talk her way out of a speeding ticket, and rearrange the living room furniture all in time to prepare dinner for 12 and cut fresh roses for the table. As a loving wife, mother of 5, and grandmother of 10, she is the family matriarch and holds us together in a way I never fully appreciated until that familiar structure was suddenly threatened.

Highlights

In the spring of 2007, just weeks before my college graduation, my parents called to tell me that my grandmother was sick
The leukocyte count was mildly elevated at 13,500 cells/ μL, hemoglobin was within normal limits at 15.0 g/dL, and the platelet count was 263,000 cells/μL
Electrolytes were within normal limits, blood urea nitrogen was mildly elevated at 19 mg/dL, and creatinine was within normal limits at 0.7 mg/dL

Summary

Introduction

In the spring of 2007, just weeks before my college graduation, my parents called to tell me that my grandmother was sick. On my grandmother’s third day of illness, the bloody diarrhea worsened and the leukocyte count increased to 18,100 cells/μL. When my father refocused his search on infectious causes of hemorrhagic colitis, E. coli emerged as the most frequently described culprit and seemed consistent with my grandmother’s case.

Results

Conclusion