A three-year-old girl has been treated in hospital three times after developing an antibiotic-resistant E. coli infection following a paddleboarding trip to Christchurch Harbour in Dorset.
Ivy Foster was in the water with her mother, Kimberley, in August when seawater entered an open wound on her foot. The family left after noticing a strong smell as the tide receded.
Several days later, Ivy was taken to Poole Hospital after becoming unwell. She suffered vomiting, abdominal pain, shaking and high temperatures, while her condition has continued to fluctuate.
Doctors have since found that the infection has spread to her right kidney. Ivy is being treated with intravenous antibiotics and fluids and is being kept in isolation as a precaution.
Her mother said the family had feared for her life after repeated bouts of illness.
“Ivy has been back on IV, antibiotics and fluids since Tuesday,” Kimberley said. “She’s become poorly again – being sick, tummy pain, shakes, temperatures.”
The infection is an extended-spectrum beta-lactamase, or ESBL, strain, which can resist several commonly used antibiotics and can become life-threatening if it enters the bloodstream.
Kimberley said her daughter was now frightened of hospital treatment. “She is petrified of being here. I don’t want another child to go through what Ivy has gone through,” she said.
Ivy’s aunt, Sophie Piper, said the child screamed when staff wearing blue entered her room because she associated them with pain. She added that Ivy was not eating properly and required intravenous fluids to remain hydrated.
The family has spent much of the summer travelling between home and hospital, with one parent regularly staying at Ivy’s bedside while the other cared for her outside hospital.
Concerns over Christchurch Harbour water quality
Christchurch Harbour has faced growing concern over water quality after community testing recorded sharp rises in E. coli levels in the River Stour during August. The Christchurch Harbour and Marine Society said some readings exceeded 100,000 colony-forming units per 100ml, compared with 500 units, the level at which it advises that water may be unsafe.
The group has urged people taking part in water sports to exercise caution while the cause of the elevated readings remains unclear. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council has backed efforts to have the harbour designated as a bathing water, which would bring regular Environment Agency monitoring during the summer months.
The harbour receives water from the Rivers Stour and Avon and has a narrow entrance, meaning pollutants can remain trapped before being carried out to sea by the tide. The Stour also passes agricultural land, construction sites and sewage treatment facilities.
The Environment Agency said its latest sampling showed E. coli levels were within the range expected for Christchurch Harbour. It said officers had checked water company discharges and investigated other possible sources of pollution but had not identified the cause of the earlier readings.
Wessex Water said the high E. coli results did not relate to its company or assets.
A second child was also reportedly admitted to hospital with campylobacter after swimming near Avon Beach, close to the entrance of the harbour.
