A third nursery which was closed as a safety precaution during an E-coli outbreak in East Lothian has re-opened its doors to staff and children.
Pear Tree West Road Nursery re-opened after final cleaning and inspection visits by East Lothian Council environmental health team, the Care Inspectorate and NHS Lothian Public Health team.
Similar work, as well as testing and the stringent E.coli clearance is ongoing in the two remaining nurseries – Musselburgh Private Nursery Bridge Street and Stoneybank – to establish a timeline for re-opening and ensure it is safe for children to return.
Dr Graham Mackenzie, Consultant in Public Health Medicine and Chair of the multi-agency Incident Management Team (IMT), said the work being carried out by each member agency and regulatory body of the IMT was essential to protect the safety of children.
He added: “Pear Tree West Road Nursery will be followed by the remaining nurseries as soon as practicably possible.
“We know this is a difficult time and we appreciate there are a number of families awaiting results. Testing for E.coli takes a minimum of a week to complete, often longer due to the complexity and range of tests carried out on each sample to identify specific strains of E.coli and to rule out the presence of other pathogens, such as norovirus.
“It is understandable that families are frustrated and that many have been hit hard by the need for exclusion from work, school and nursery.
“We must remember however that at the very heart of this outbreak is the safety of children, some of whom were very young and have been quite unwell.
“I would reassure parents that each member agency of the IMT has a duty to ensure that children are returning to a safe place. They each have to perform a series of robust measures and checks to achieve that.”
The recent meeting of the IMT (Thursday 08/09/2022) heard that more work by health care scientists and consultants is continuing to identify the source of the infection.
Letters providing the most up to date information have been issued to families directly in some circumstances and via the nurseries distribution systems.
Church Street Pear Tree Nursery was originally closed on August 2 after a number of children fell ill and went on to test positive for E-coli.
NHS Lothian joined forces with local and national partner agencies to form a multi-agency Incident Management Team (IMT) to investigate.
The sister nursery Meadowpark Pear Tree Nursery was closed on 12 August as a precaution when sickness symptoms were reported before E.coli went on to be confirmed on 18 August. It was then followed by Musselburgh Private Nursery, Bridge Street on 19 August.
Musselburgh Private Nursery, Bridge Street will remain closed until the strict clearance process has been completed.
In total, there have been 54 confirmed cases of E.coli across the three nurseries.
West Road Pear Tree Nursery, and Musselburgh Private Nursery, Stoneybank, were both closed as a precaution following sickness symptoms. E.coli has never been confirmed. West Road Pear Tree Nursery closed on 16 August. The complex outbreak has evolved rapidly and a set of FAQs have been developed to help answer questions from concerned families and carers. They are available on NHS Lothian’s website https://news.nhslothian.scot/2022/08/26/faqs-further-update-on-ecoli/
