Teenager Hospitalized With E. Coli After Eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounder Details Symptoms

A 15-year-old girl from Grand Junction, Colorado is speaking out about the first E. coli symptoms she says she experienced after eating McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.

The popular sandwiches have been linked to an outbreak of the bacteria in 13 states that has left 90 people sick, including one death and 27 hospitalizations, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The most likely source of outbreaks is the sliced ​​onions that come on top of the burger, McDonald’s said in a press release. The retailer of the onions in the affected region, Taylor Farms, said that while no specific ingredient has been confirmed as the source, they have “preemptively recalled” yellow onions.

McDonald’s has also stopped buying onions from Taylor Farms and pulled Quarter Pounders from the menu at about 900 locations, but the fast-food giant plans to start selling them again this week without onions for now.

The girl, Kamberlyn Bowler, is currently in the hospital with kidney failure and gave her first interview about her illness to NBC News.

Teenager recalls symptoms that led to hospitalization

Kamberlyn, a previously healthy teenager, went to McDonald’s several times in the days before she became ill. She ordered her favorite Quarter Pounder with cheese and extra pickles.

Her first symptoms — fever and abdominal pain — started the next month, according to her mother, Brittany Randall.

“(My mom and I) both thought I just had a fever, like just the flu or something — a stomach bug,” Kamberlyn told NBC News. “But then I started throwing up and had diarrhea and it was bloody, so it scared me.”

Randall took her daughter to the emergency room, but tests turned up nothing. The teenager then began to feel worse.

After almost a week of symptoms, Kamberlyn said she needed to go back to the doctor. “It scared me. I was scared,” she recalled.

At the second doctor’s visit, tests showed that Kamberlyn had kidney failure due to a severe E. coli infection. She was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora on October 18 and remains there.

“It’s just been scary watching her body work against her,” Randall said. “It’s been tough. I’ve had to take time off work, she made the softball team for her high school, she had to sit out the last few games because she was sick.”

The teenager was diagnosed with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli-associated hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a rare complication of an E. coli infection caused by the bacteria that attacks the kidneys.

Kamberlyn has had several rounds of dialysis, and while her kidneys may be able to function again, the extent of the lasting damage is still unknown, according to Randall.

“We’re not really sure what it’s going to look like for her moving forward,” she said. “She probably needs another round of dialysis. We hope it’s the last one, but we don’t know either.”

Kamberlyn had no underlying conditions prior to her E. coli infection. She played softball in her high school.

“She went from being super healthy and no problems at all to possibly having kidney damage her whole life,” Randall said.

In an email, a McDonald’s spokesperson told NBC News that stories like Kamberlyn’s are “devastating to us.”

“We know that people and families have been significantly affected, and the well-being of our customers is deeply important to us,” the email said.

Lawsuits Against the McDonald’s Outbreak

More lawsuits already filed against McDonald’s over the E. coli Quarter Pounder outbreak. Ron Simon, an attorney representing Kamberlyn and 32 others affected, told NBC News that he plans to file Kamberlyn’s case this week. He added that he has received hundreds of calls since the outbreak began.

“It will be many more cases in this outbreak than 75,” Simon said.

One of the lawsuits was filed by Clarissa DeBock, 33, a receptionist from North Platte, Nebraska, who says she ate a Quarter Pounder on Sept. 18 and ended up in the emergency room a week later. DeBock is also a customer of Simon’s.

On October 27, McDonald’s president Joe Erlinger apologized to customers in a videothat promises to regain the customer’s trust.

“On behalf of the McDonald’s system, I want you to hear from me: We are sorry,” he said. “For those customers who are affected, you have my commitment that, guided by our values, we will get this right.”

E. coli symptoms

According to CDCare the following signs of an E. coli infection and may merit contacting a healthcare provider:

• Diarrhea and fever higher than 102°F
• Diarrhea for more than three days that does not improve
• Bloody diarrhea
• So much vomiting that you can’t keep fluids down
• Signs of dehydration, such as not urinating much, dry mouth and throat, dizziness when standing up

Symptoms usually start three to four days after ingesting the bacteria, and most people typically recover without treatment after five to seven days, according to the CDC.

NBC News’ Christine Romans, Elizabeth Chuck and Laura Allenbaugh contributed reporting.