A girl in Massachusetts has died from a deadly bacterial infection after eating at her favorite fast food restaurant.
Angelica Vazquez, 6, suffered fatal brain damage after becoming infected with E Coli – which her family is convinced she contracted from a McDonald’s cheeseburger.
But doctors at the FDA don’t think her tragic case was linked to a wider outbreak linked to the fast food chain earlier this year, saying the timelines and details don’t match up.
That has done little to comfort Angelica’s family. Ms Ocasio told MassLive: ‘My whole concern is “OK, if it wasn’t the McDonald’s, what is it?”‘
Angelica had ordered a cheeseburger from her local McDonald’s before a night of trick-or-treating on Halloween this year and following evening complained of stomach ache.
When Ms Ocasio asked her if she needed to see a doctor, Angelica said: ‘No, my belly just hurts,’ so the mother-of-seven assumed she just had an ordinary stomach bug and had her drink Gatorade and relax in front of the TV.
On November 2, following a bubble bath, Angelica fell unconscious in her mother’s arms after telling her: ‘I love you.’ Those would be her final words.
By the time the ambulance arrived at the hospital, the girl who was always ‘very grateful for everything and anything she had’ was in cardiac arrest.
Ms Ocasio said: ‘It was fast. It was really, really fast.’
Angelica Vazquez (pictured here), 6, died earlier this month from E coli, which lead to a gastrointestinal bleeding and cardiac arrest. Her family suspects eating at McDonald’s two days earlier could be to blame
The onions from the burgers (pictured) have been at the center of an investigation into an E coli outbreak
Just 12 hours after arriving at the hospital, Angelica was pronounced dead.
Ms Ocasio didn’t learn her daughter’s cause of death until she read the death certificate weeks later.
At the hospital, she says doctors refused to provide answers.
They only told her that Angelica suffered brain damage, which could have been caused by E coli breaching the blood-brain barrier and traveling to the central nervous system, leading to inflammation and cutting off oxygen to the organ.
Ms Ocasio said: ‘They just kept telling me, “She’s too sick. She’s too sick.”‘
Angelica’s death certificate revealed cardiac arrest, acute gastrointestinal bleeding, and a positive E coli test.
Her family suspects that something she ate at McDonald’s is to blame, given how soon her death happened after a nationwide E Coli outbreak linked to the fast food chain.
That outbreak, which killed one person and hospitalized dozens, was caused by slivered yellow onions that were supplied to restaurants in 14 states.
The strain of E. coli linked to the onions O157.H7 but as of Monday, the CDC says there have been no reported cases of that strain in Massachusetts.
Dr Stephen Ostroff, MD, Former Deputy Commissioner for Foods and Veterinary Medicine at FDA who is investigating the McDonald’s outbreak, said the onions that caused the outbreak in rocky mountain states were no longer available when this child consumed her meal.
And since Angelica’s illness occurred a number of weeks ago, if there were others, he said the CDC would likely have identified them by now.
Ms Ocasio is now focused on keeping her other six children, all under the age of 10, safe and preserving her daughter’s memory by making necklaces for each of her siblings.
She said: ‘They get to wear those everywhere. We talk about her. They know they’re more than welcome to talk about her.
‘And I check their mental health every morning and before bed. And in between, we just do a lot of talking and a lot of crying together.’
She also noted that she wants to share her daughter’s story in hopes of saving another child’s life.
‘I feel like my job now is to spread awareness,’ she said.
Angelica’s mother, Samantha Ocasio, is now focused on sharing her daughter’s story to save another child’s life. She told MassLive: ‘I feel like my job now is to spread awareness’
A McDonald’s representative told DailyMail.com: ‘We are absolutely heartbroken for this family’s loss, and we extend our deepest sympathies. We take any and every report of a potential food safety issue seriously.
‘Upon being made aware of this devastating report, we immediately reached out to the Massachusetts Dept. of Public Health, our own third-party experts and our Supply Chain team.
‘What’s important to know is that the public health officials have not connected any reports of E. Coli to McDonald’s in Massachusetts or the broader Northeast region.
‘Last month, we took swift and decisive action following reports of E. Coli linked to slivered onions in a small number of restaurants in Colorado and neighboring states.
‘The FDA has since confirmed there is no food safety concern connected to McDonald’s restaurants related to the recent outbreak.
There have been no confirmed E coli cases in Massachusetts from the outbreak at McDonald’s, according to the above map from the CDC
‘We offer our condolences to the family in this incredibly difficult time.’
In the US, there are about 265,000 cases of E.coli every year and more than 100 people die from the disease, according to health officials.
Infections are caused by eating contaminated food, such as ground beef — where a contaminated part of an animal’s intestine has seeped into the supply — vegetables — which may have been grown using contaminated water — and unpasteurized milk.
Patients usually start to suffer symptoms three to four days after being infected, although they can be delayed more than a week later.
These include diarrhea, stomach cramps and nausea, which may clear up within a few days.
If people start to suffer from diarrhea that is persistent, severe or bloody, however, it is recommended that they seek urgent care in hospital.
In severe cases, E coli toxins have been shown to travel to the heart and cause inflammation, putting increased stress on the organ. This could lead to cardiac arrest.