WHEN Nicole turned one two weeks ago, her family celebrated with a birthday cake from Prima Deli.
But the happy occasion turned into a nightmare when two days later, Nicole's temperature shot through the roof and she was stricken with a severe case of diarrhoea.
'It was more serious than expected. She had diarrhoea up to 16 times a day, and a fever of 40 deg C,' her mother, Madam Alice Lim, 34, told The Straits Times.
Nicole was irritable and not eating well, so her parents took her to the National University Hospital 'just in case'.
'Because her fever was high, she was warded,' Madam Lim said.
After her fever eventually broke last Friday, she was sent home.
But the nightmare returned when the toddler's temperature shot up to about 40 degC again and her diarrhoea worsened.
She was re-admitted to hospital on Wednesday and by then, the results of her stool culture had confirmed that she was infected with the salmonella bacteria, which can kill if left untreated.
Nicole was one of 153 people to come down with a potentially fatal case of food poisoning after eating food from Prima Deli.
She is the only one of the 11 hospitalised patients who is still warded.
But she has pulled through and is currently being treated with intravenous antibiotics.
Madam Lim said they do not want to blame anyone for the incident.
'It has all been very unfortunate. We don't want to point fingers. All we want is for Nicole to get well quickly and come home,' she said.
JUDITH TAN