Long-term health problems haunt some people who get food poisoning

WASHINGTON (AP) - It's a dirty little secret of food poisoning.

E. coli and certain other foodborne illnesses can sometimes trigger serious health problems months or years after patients survived that initial bout.

In interviews with The Associated Press, scientists describe high blood pressure, kidney damage, even full kidney failure striking 10 to 20 years later in people who survived severe E. coli infection as children.

They've also found a mysterious paralysis that can attack people who just had mild symptoms.

While these conditions strike a small fraction of the millions of people who get food poisoning each year, experts say no one knows just how many people are at risk.

A consumer group called STOP -- Safe Tables Our Priority -- is beginning the first national registry of food-poisoning survivors with long-term health problems. It's seeking people willing to share their medical histories with scientists in hopes of boosting research.