E.coli strikes seventh child

A SEVENTH child has been hit by potentially fatal E.coli bacteria, thought to have affected children at a Bank Holiday party. The seven-year- old girl is a playmate of six children who have already been infected, but is well enough to be cared for at home rather than in hospital.

The bacteria - the same strain which killed 20 elderly people in Scotland - has spread since the weekend, infecting the children aged between two and nine years.

One five-year-old boy is still in a serious but stable condition at Southampton General Hospital. Four others are still undergoing treatment at Poole General Hospital but have been described as stable. The sixth is recovering at home.

Five of the children attend the same school, St George's First School, in Langton Matravers in Dorset. The school has been ruled out as a source of the outbreak. Health officials are carrying out tests on food at a tea party attended by all the affected children or their friends or siblings.