| Abstract | Guidelines on the Management of Communicable Diseases in Schools and Nurseries: E. Coli (Escherichia Coli Enteritis). This document provides details of mode of transmission - definition of onset; incubation period; risk of transmission - duration of shedding; period of infectiousness -serial interval; and exclusion period from school / nursery. Different types of E.coli cause enteritis by different mechanisms. Enteropathogenic and enteroinvasive E.coli (EPEC and EIEC) cause childhood diarrhoea, enterohaemorrhagic E.coli (EHEC eg. E.coli 0157) cause bloody diarrhoea and HUS. Enterotoxigenic E. Coli (ETEC) typically causes traveller’s diarrhoea. A longer period of exclusion may be appropriate for children under the age of 5 years, and for older children who are unable to maintain good personal hygiene. |