What illness does E. coli O157:H7 cause?
An E. coli O157:H7 infection often causes severe bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps; sometimes the infection causes non-bloody diarrhea or no symptoms. Usually little or no fever is present, and the illness goes away in 5 to 10 days. In some people, particularly children younger than 5 and the elderly, the infection can cause a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), in which the red blood cells are destroyed and the kidneys fail. About 8 percent of infections lead to this complication.
