News

Case study: Puffins Pre-school, Brecon, Wales

Proprietor Bethan James tells of her experience when an outbreak of E. coli was detected at her 26-place nursery in November last year. 'One of the nursery children, who was nearly one year old, was off ill with diarrhoea and her mother took her to the doctor on the Thursday. She tested positive for E. coli 0157. The doctor immediately contacted the Environmental Health department, who phoned me. My first reaction was total shock, especially as I'd heard of children dying from the bug.

'One of the nursery children, who was nearly one year old, was off ill with diarrhoea and her mother took her to the doctor on the Thursday. She tested positive for E. coli 0157. The doctor immediately contacted the Environmental Health department, who phoned me. My first reaction was total shock, especially as I'd heard of children dying from the bug.

'Environmental Health came to the nursery the following day with sample pots so that all the children's and staff's faeces could be tested at a laboratory. We then had to wait 48 hours for the test results.

'Environmental Health were great and kept in touch with me throughout the weekend. On the Sunday I was informed that the nursery should not open the following day - they said they were not shutting the nursery down, just closing it as a precaution. I then phoned the parents to let them know.

Register now to continue reading

Thank you for visiting Nursery World and making use of our archive of more than 35,000 expert features, subject guides, case studies and policy updates. Why not register today and enjoy the following great benefits:

What's included

  • Free access to 4 subscriber-only articles per month

  • Unlimited access to news and opinion

  • Email newsletter providing activity ideas, best practice and breaking news

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here