Eating food contaminated with viruses, bacteria, fungus, poisons, parasites, and chemicals can result in food poisoning. It's not a dangerous condition and it can go away in two or three days. It is not rare and can be very uncomfortable for a person.
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Food production and processing facilities can contaminate a product with pathogens or toxic substances. Even when cooking at home, it might happen due to poor handling or preparation. Some of these poisons are naturally present in both the environment and food. Food poisoning symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea usually appear within a few hours of consuming contaminated food.
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Pathophysiology
Pathogenesis of food poisoning can be classified into two types as non-inflammatory and inflammatory. In non-inflammatory diarrhea, the enterotoxins act on the mucous of small intestine without invasion. This leads to a large volume of watery stool without any pus, blood & abdominal pain and may result in occasional dehydration. Inflammatory diarrhea is due to the cytotoxic actions of the mucosa leading to invasion and destruction. Here the distal and small bowel is involved. In this type, all these actions result in bloody diarrhea.
Types of food poisoning
Botulism: A bacteria that are found in untreated water and soil is Clostridium botulinum which is a responsible factor for this acute illness. Botulism may also lead to paralysis.
Bacterial or infectious diarrhea: The bacteria Campylobacter jejuni causes infection in the small intestine. It is a type of traveler’s diarrhea.
E. coli enteritis: E.coli (E. coli O157: H7) causes severe infection in the small intestine and leads to critical food poisoning with blood in diarrhea. It is also known as Hamburger disease. This type of food poisoning may pose serious complications such as anemia and even kidney failure.
Fish poisoning: Diphyllobothrium latum is a tapeworm present in the fish, which may infect a person while eats such fishes as uncooked or undercooked. Some of the symptoms are abdominal cramps, diarrhea and sometimes weight loss.
Listeriosis: This is a serious type of food-borne disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes bacteria that exist in the form of a colony or community called ‘biofilm’.
Salmonella enterocolitis: Drinking water contaminated with salmonella bacteria causes such type of food poisoning. It affects the lining of the small intestines of people below the age of 20 years.
Staphylococcus aureus: This type of bacteria is able to produce 7 varieties of toxins, which are much resistant to heat and so it is difficult to kill through normal cooking. Foods that cause staphylococcal food poisoning are milk and cheese, sandwiches, pastries, and puddings.
Causes
Food contamination by various pathogens is the main reason behind the food poisoning. Contamination of food occurs at different stages when the food is produced, cooking or processed.
Cooking of food at inappropriate temperature
Inadequate cooking
Chilling of food at incorrect temperature
Touching the food with dusty hand
Eating the food which is expired in its use by date
Cross-contamination: contamination from other foods ex. storing the food in the fridge above the food which is going to eat.
Using contaminated water for cooking
The pathogens which cause food poisoning are bacteria, parasite, virus, and toxins.
Bacteria
Campylobacter: It is usually found in untreated water and raw meat and poultry.
Salmonella: Salmonella found in egg and raw meat. It also available in dairy products such as unpasteurized milk
Listeria: These bacteria are usually found in the chilled ready to eat foods such as butter, packed sandwiches, cooked sliced meats, smoked salmon, soft cheese such as brie, camembert.
Escherichia coli: It is generally found in the digestive tract of humans as well as animals. Some strains are useful and some may cause serious illness.
Parasites
These are another type of microbes but different from bacteria. The parasite is an organism which lives within another organism. Parasites that cause food contamination are cryptosporidium, Entamoeba histolytica, and giardia. Toxoplasmosis is the most likely cause of parasitical food poisoning. The cause of toxoplasmosis is eating food or water contaminated with the feces of infected cats and undercooked contaminated meat.
Toxins and chemicals
Toxins are the poison produced by the bacteria which contaminate food as well as the bacteria itself. If the bacterial contaminated food is reheated or cooked again produces toxins which lead to food poisoning. Some seafoods especially oily fishes can be contaminated with toxins such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). These toxins levels in fish are very low but still, it can be a risk to unborn babies. Some of the oily fishes are:
Fresh tuna (not canned tuna, which does not count as oily fish)
Mackerel
Sardines
Trout
Salmon
There are some fishes with the high level of mercury which also damage the nervous system of unborn babies. Therefore it is advised to avoid the following fishes by pregnant women.
Shark
Swordfish
Marlin
Virus
There are two common viruses which cause food poisoning is norovirus and rotavirus. Rotavirus is common in children whereas norovirus infects the people at any age.
Risk factors
Some foods which may put you at risk are as follows.
Partially cooked seafood, such as shrimp and crab
Unpasteurized milk
Homemade salad dressings
Raw cookie dough
Soft Cheeses
Meat spreads
Raw meats
Any raw or undercooked fish
Canned food that has been canned at home, including honey and jams
There are some diseased peoples who are at risk.
Pregnant women
People with chronic diseases such as diabetes, liver disease or AIDS
Infants and children less than 5 years of age
Elderly people over 70 years of age are at greatest risk
Persons with Autoimmune Diseases
Cancer Patients
Symptoms
The symptoms of the food poisoning may vary from mild to severe depending upon the type of contamination that occurred. Symptoms may begin after an hours or days after consuming the contaminated food. Symptoms may include:
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Loss of appetite
Aching muscles
Chills, fever or sweating
Lack of energy and weakness
Abdominal cramps or stomach pain
Nausea (feeling sick)
Extreme tiredness (lethargy)
A headache
Food poisoning may occur to one person or to a whole group who are exposed to the contaminated food.
Complications
Common complications include:
Dehydration
Problem in unborn babies
Bloody diarrhea
Tiny blood vessels damage
Complications vary based on the period it long lasts (Long-term effects):
Kidney failure
Arthritis
Brain nerve damage
Death
Diagnosis and test
Diagnosis starts with patient’s history of eating foods, travel history, exposures to contaminated food or asking question about your friends or relatives with similar symptoms
The physical symptoms such as dehydration and abdominal tenderness
Diagnosing stool sample to detect the blood in stool, pathogen, parasites are tested microscopically and toxins in the stool
In addition, the immunological tests are carried out to test for toxins such as Shiga toxin. In some rare cases, biopsy samples may be taken
medicine and therapy
Depending on the cause and the degree, the treatment could change. Without treatment, some people recover from food poisoning in a few days or even a single day, while occasionally illness might linger longer.
Patients are treated with clear fluids such as oral replacement solutions when their mild diarrhea lasts for 24 hours.
Some people may benefit from taking medication to lessen nausea and vomiting. Both Pepto Bismol and loperamide (Imodium) can be used to alleviate nausea and other issues including diarrhea.
If you have listeria food poisoning, your doctor may occasionally advise antibiotics. The use of antibiotics during pregnancy may assist to prevent the infection from spreading to the unborn child.
Prevention
Try to avoid the following basic steps to avoid food poisoning:
Frequently wash your hands and your dishes
Prior to consumption, wash fruits and vegetables.
Separate raw foods from cooked items.
Use expired packaged food sparingly.
Up to 180° F, completely cook the meat.
Never consume unwashed raw fruits and vegetables.
Keep your refrigerator at 4.44 degrees Celsius and refrigerate correctly. Foods may get contaminated in two hours if they are not refrigerated.
Don't eat anything till you feel better.
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