E.coli nearly killed Depp's daughter

Johnny Depp's seven-year-old daughter nearly died when her kidneys shut down after she suffered E.coli food poisoning, it was revealed today.

Lily-Rose is recovering after spending nine days critically ill in an unnamed London hospital where her condition was said to be "touch and go".

The Pirates Of The Caribbean star and his partner, 34-year-old Vanessa Paradis, kept a vigil at their daughter's hospital bedside earlier this month.

Depp, 43, refused to return to the set of his latest film, Sweeney Todd, until she was out of danger, forcing filming to be stopped.

E.coli food poisoning is commonly caused by improperly cooked meat, unpasteurised milk or water contamination. It is a bacteria which normally lives inside the intestines where it helps break down and digest food.

But certain strains can get into the blood causing a rare but very serious infection.

Staff on the Warner Bros set at Pinewood Studios in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, were told the illness caused Lily-Rose's kidneys to shut down and she was lucky to survive.

An insider said: "Everyone gasped when we were given the real reason for her illness. It was touch and go for a while."

Occurrences of E.coli have increased in recent years, with up to 1,000 people contracting the disease in the UK each year.

It is particularly serious in vulnerable people such as the elderly or children under the age of five, with long-term effects which can include kidney damage, paralysis or blindness. The mortality rate among the elderly is 50 per cent.

Doctors do not prescribe antibiotics and commonly allow the illness to run its cause, which usually lasts about a week.