Illness from eating poisonous food containing bacteria, viruses, pesticides, or toxins. It is more common than you can even think. One out of six people get food poisoning, around 48 million people in America, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of the people get better without any medications.
Food poisoning is both common and riskier in a lot of people around the world, like infants, young children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
The same food can affect different people differently. For example some may feel bad after eating few bites and some can not get affected even after eating the whole food. Symptoms can show up instantly or can take few days or a week. The more delay it gets the more difficult it is to understand what food may have caused the infection.
Causes of food poisoning
Food poisoning can be caused by three major causes, following are:
· Bacteria
The most common cause of food poisoning so far is bacteria. When we are talking about bacteria the most common names that come to your mind are like E. coli, Listeria, and Salmonella.
The biggest cause of food poisoning in United States is Salmonella. Around 1,000,000 cases of food poisoning has been seen, including 20,000 hospitalizations of people, caused by salmonella infection annually.
Campylobacter and C. botulinum are two more different kinds of bacteria which are seen to be causing food poisoning.
· Parasites
It is not as common as food poisoning caused by bacteria. Parasites spread through food cause food poisoning and it’s very dangerous.
The most common parasite seen in food is Toxoplasma, generally found in cat litter boxes.
People with week immune systems and pregnant women risk more with this virus because it gets stuck in your intestines. It can get undetected for years.
· Viruses
Virus can also cause food poisoning. Around 19 million people gets food poisoning every year by a virus. The virus is known as norovirus, also known as the Norwalk.
There are few more viruses which cause same symptoms but are less affective, sapovirus, rotavirus, and astrovirus. Happatitis A is a serious condition which is transmitting through food.
Symptoms of food poisoning
If you are having food poisoning it can go undetected, symptoms can vary depending on the source of infection. The time it takes for symptoms to show depends on the source of infection. It can take about 1 hour to about 28 days to show it’symptoms.
The following are the sy
mptoms of food poisoning you will find atleast 3-4 of them if you are having food poisoning:
· Abdominal cramps
· Diarrhea
· Vomiting
· Loss of appetite
· Mild fever
· Weakness
· Nausea
· Headaches
Life threatening symptoms include:
· Diarrhea continues for more than three days
· A fever more than 101.5°F
· Difficulty seeing or speaking
· Symptoms of severe dehydration, including dry mouth, passing little to no urine, and difficulty keeping fluids down
· Bloody urine
If you see these types of symptoms in your body please consult your doctor.
How does food get contaminated?
Pathogens is a bacteria found in all the food we eat. Although heating kills all the pathogens before it gets to our plate. Eating raw food is the most common cause of food poisoning as the pathogens are not being killed in them, as they don’t go through cooking process.
Sometimes food get in contact with organisms in fecal matter when they are not being washed properly.
Water is generally contaminated with fecal matter and also Meat, eggs, and dairy products.
Many foodborne micro organisms are present in healthy animals raised for food.
Meat and poultry may become contaminated when they are being slaughtered by small amounts of intestinal contents.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are contaminated if they’re washed with water that’s contaminated by animal manure or human sewage.
In general, refrigerating food or freezing them prevents virtually all bacteria from growing. If food is heated sufficiently, all the parasites, viruses and most bacteria are killed.
Risks of food poisoning
Anyone can get food poisoning. Nearly everyone gets food poisoning once in their lives. There are few people who are more at risk of getting food poisoning than others. The people who have week immune systems and an auto-immune disease, have a greater risk of food poisoning and complications than others.
Pregnant women has more chances of having food poisoning than others because their bodies are coping with changes to metabolism and circulatory system during pregnancy.
Elderly individuals also have a great risk of getting food poisoning because their immune systems may not respond quickly to micro organisms which affect them.
And also children are at a very high risk because their immune systems are not as developed as adults, so they can respond to infections quickly. Young children get affected by diarrhea and vomiting and dehydration quickly.
Diagnosis of food poisoning
Your doctor could also be ready to diagnose the kind of gastrointestinal disorder supported your symptoms. In severe cases, blood tests, stool tests, and tests on food that you simply have eaten could also be conducted to work out what's chargeable for the gastrointestinal disorder. Your doctor may additionally use a urine test to judge whether a private is dehydrated as a results of gastrointestinal disorder.
Food poisoning is usually diagnosed supported a close history, including how long you have been sick, your symptoms and specific foods you've eaten. Your doctor will perform a physical exam, searching for signs of dehydration.
Depending on your symptoms and health history, your doctor may conduct diagnostic tests, like a biopsy, stool culture or examination for parasites, to spot the cause and ensure the diagnosis. For stool culture, your doctor will send a sample of your stool to the laboratory, where a technicians identify the infectious organism. If an organism is found, your doctor likely will notify your local health department to work out if the sickness is linked to a pestilence.
Treatment of food poisoning
Food poisoning can be treated at home, it can be resolved in three to five days.
If you have got sickness, it’s crucial to stay properly hydrated. Sports drinks high in electrolytes will be helpful with this. Drinkable and coconut milk can restore carbohydrates and help with fatigue.
Avoid caffeine, which can irritate the epithelial duct. Decaffeinated teas with soothing herbs like chamomile, peppermint, and dandelion may calm an indigestion. Examine more remedies for an indigestion.
The counter medications like Imodium and Pepto-Bismol helps in controlling diarrhea and suppress nausea. However, you ought to visit your doctor before using these medications, because the body uses vomiting and diarrhea to rid the system of the toxin. By using these medications the severity of the illness can be delayed by seeking expert treatment.
It’s also important for those with sickness to urge lots of rest.
In severe cases of sickness, individuals may require hydration with intravenous (IV) fluids at a hospital. Within the very worst cases of sickness, a extended hospitalization is also required while the individual recovers.
Diet
There are several things you should eat when you have food poisoning.
You should eat simple to digest foods, that are low in fat. Such as:
Saltine crackers
Gelatin
Bananas
Rice
Oatmeal
Chicken broth
Bland potatoes
Boiled vegetables
Toast
Soda without caffeine (ginger ale, root beer)
Diluted fruit juices
Several things you should not eat when you are having food poisoning:
Dairy products, especially milk and cheeses
Fatty foods
Highly seasoned foods
Food with high sugar content
Spicy foods
Fried foods
You should also avoid:
Caffeine (soda, energy drinks, coffee)
Alcohol
Nicotine
While having sickness is sort of uncomfortable, the great news is that the majority people recover completely within 48 hours. Food poisoning will be life-threatening, however the CDC says this can be extremely rare.
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