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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffNo vaccine or medication can protect you from E. coli-based illness, though researchers are investigating potential vaccines. To reduce your chance of being exposed to E. coli, avoid risky foods and avoid cross-contamination.
Risky foods
- Avoid pink hamburger. Hamburgers should be well-done. Meat, especially if grilled, is likely to brown before it's completely cooked, so use a meat thermometer to ensure that meat is heated to at least 160 F (71 C) at its thickest point. If you don't have a thermometer, cook ground meat until no pink shows in the center.
- Drink pasteurized milk, juice and cider. Any boxed or bottled juice kept at room temperature is likely to be pasteurized, even if the label doesn't say so.
- Wash raw produce thoroughly. Although washing produce won't necessarily get rid of all E. coli — especially in leafy greens, which provide many spots for the bacteria to attach themselves to — careful rinsing can remove dirt and reduce the amount of bacteria that may be clinging to the produce.
Avoid cross-contamination
- Wash utensils. Use hot soapy water on knives, countertops and cutting boards before and after they come into contact with fresh produce or raw meat.
- Keep raw foods separate. This includes using separate cutting boards for raw meat and foods such as vegetables and fruits. Never put cooked hamburgers on the same plate you used for raw patties.
- Wash your hands. Wash your hands after preparing or eating food, using the bathroom or changing diapers. Make sure that children also wash their hands before eating, after using the bathroom and after contact with animals.
References
- Escherichia coli. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/nczved/dfbmd/disease_listing/stec_gi.html. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Steckelberg JM (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 12, 2009.
- Bitteman RA, et al. Acute gastroenteritis. In: Marx JA, et al. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier; 2006. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/135505615-6/837468548/1365/282.html#4-u1.0-B0-323-02845-4..50098-6--cesec40_4619. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Calderwood SB. Microbiology, pathogenesis and epidemiology of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Basic information about E. coli O157:H7 in drinking water. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/ecoli.html. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome in children. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/childkidneydiseases/hemolytic_uremic_syndrome/. Accessed May 5, 2009.
- Calderwood SB. Clinical manifestations, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2009.
