Since several weeks the gastrointestinal infection with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) is unsettling Germany and other European countries. I don’t want to add more of the same to the pulp of words and breaking news on air every day. Opinions and propositions from experts of various kinds use this microorganism to follow their agendas, and irritate us, the so-called public. Currents of medical, epidemiological, microbiological, demographic, political etc. discourses coalesce and turned into a dirty flood overwhelming us.
The facts about this little creature that causes us so much headache can be read elsewhere. I only want to summarize the very essential. EHEC is a gram-negative bacterium belonging to the huge family of E. coli that reside in our gut anyway. The special features of this germ are that it produces several toxins that can turn this infection into a dangerous disease. The toxin that brings about blood clotting disorders and kidney issues is a hemolysin. Hemolysins are able to destroy blood cells. The fragments of these cells first of all block vessels with a very tiny diameter as you find them in the kidneys or within nervous tissue. This dysfunction of the blood circulation leads to a lack of nutrient supply and tissue damage that explains the dreadful and in some cases lethal effects of this infection. These complications occur, if the bacteria enter the body through the gut. Children, sick and old people are more susceptible to develop systemic infection.
Treatment with antibiotics should strictly be avoided. Antibiotics destroy the bacteria and cause a flooding of the body with the detrimental toxins, means antibiotics make it all worse and can introduce kidney failure.
You have heard a lot about this infection on the news during the last weeks. You have heard about a test that makes the process of diagnosis faster, about antibodies that could be made up for a treatment, but of course this will take time. Then you have been told to refrain from raw vegetables, and strictly wash your hands regularly.
Nobody talked about available treatment options, and nobody said loud in the open: don’t take antibiotics.
To cut a long story short, studies performed with colostrum or biestmilch respectively strongly suggest its efficacy in cases of EHEC infections and its prevention. It’s a treatment without side-effects, and should be introduced as soon as possible in the course of the disease. I give you the sources of giving hold to my “bold statement” below. My voice is low and does not count within this massive current of discourses of experts, but perhaps one or the other among you out there, may appreciate the recommendation anyhow.
Lissner R, Schmidt H, Karch H: A standard immunoglobulin preparation produced from bovine colostra shows antibody reactivity and neutralization activity against Shiga-like toxins and EHEC-hemolysin of Escherichia coli O157:H7: Infection 24, 378-383, 1996
Huppertz H-I, Rutkowski St, Busch DH, Eisebit R, Lissner R, Karch H: Bovine colostrum ameliorates diarrhea in infection with diarrheagenic Escherchia coli, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and expressing intimin and hemolysin. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, 9 (4), 452-456, 1999
Why is biestmilch a remedy – an explanation in very brief
Cows are a natural reservoir for EHEC. Kettle carries EHEC without getting sick. Newborn calves receive colostrum/biestmilch and with it a big amount of immunoglobulins containing neutralizing antibodies against EHEC. Biestmilch thus is immunizing the calves and protects it from coming down with an EHEC infection.
Similar mechanisms of action may play a role in humans.
