The number of people being diagnosed with a deadly bacterial infection has surged dramatically in recent years, a study reveals. Outbreaks of E.coli in the UK are commonly linked to contaminated food, particularly salad leaves in pre-packaged sandwiches and wraps, or undercooked meats.
UKHSA figures show 2,341 people were infected with a strain of E.coli, shiga toxin-producing E.coli, in 2023. A report published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology showed this was almost 10-fold rise from 297 cases in 2016. Researchers noted that the trend was likely partly due to more widespread testing for the infection, but “also represents a true increase in the clinical and public health burden of” this strain of E.coli.
E.coli is a common cause of food poisoning which can trigger severe symptoms including stomach cramps, vomiting and fever.
The condition is typically treated with hydration and rest, with patients sometimes requiring hospital care.
The findings come after scientists discovered that a toxin produced by another strain of E. coli may be driving rates of bowel cancer in young people.
Bowel cancer rate are rising among young people across the globe, with one recent study suggesting England is seeing a sharper increase than many other countries.
The bacterial toxin — called colibactin — is capable of altering DNA and is produced by a strain of E. coli, though not the strain linked to infection such as diarrhoea in some people.
Researchers, including from the UK and backed by Cancer Research UK, found that exposure to colibactin in early childhood imprints a genetic signature on the DNA of bowel cells, which may then increase the risk of developing bowel cancer before the age of 50.
Experts at the University of California San Diego examined 981 colorectal (bowel) cancer genomes from patients with both early and late-onset disease in 11 different countries.
They found colibactin can leave behind specific patterns of DNA mutations that are 3.3 times more common in early-onset bowel cancer cases (in the study this was adults under 40) than in those diagnosed after the age of 70.
Senior author, Ludmil Alexandrov, a professor at UCSD, said: “These mutation patterns are a kind of historical record in the genome, and they point to early-life exposure to colibactin as a driving force behind early-onset disease
