The city of Toulouse closed a daycare center where several children had to be hospitalized following an infection with Escherichia coli bacteria (E.coli).
Friday November 10, 2023, several children at the Minimes nursery in Toulouse developed symptoms linked to the E.coli bacteria, according to information provided by France 3 Occitanie. The contaminations were communicated to the nursery by the Regional Health Agency (ARS), as indicated in a press release from the town hall. The parents of the 54 children enrolled in the establishment were informed by the town hall, which organized a closure of the crèche from Monday November 13.
While the fear of seeing the number of contaminations increase among children, concerns have also been directed towards the patients of the neighboring nursing home, with whom the children would be in regular contact. A concern which was then dismissed by the mayor of Toulouse who communicated to the Parisian that no contamination had been recorded in the nursing home.
A press release from Toulouse town hall subsequently clarified that the symptoms evolved in a dangerous manner in certain children and that two of them had to be hospitalized before being placed in the intensive care unit. They were discharged a few days later when their condition improved. France 3 reported this Tuesday, November 21, that all the children were now out of danger.
During the closure of the nursery, analyzes were carried out to discover the origin of the contamination. The samples taken by specialized teams have not yet determined the source but have made it possible to refute with certainty the possibility of food contamination. Laurence Katzenmayer, assistant in charge of early childhood and crèches at Toulouse town hall, said “Once the samples were taken, we carried out a thorough and rigorous cleaning”.
Laurence Katzenmayer also communicated that screenings were carried out on the children and their families as well as on the nursery staff and that all were negative. Consequently, the crèche should welcome children again from this Wednesday, November 22.