Food poisoning
Food poisoning can really throw you for a loop. After eating germ infected food can a person develop sudden and severe
Symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. Medical treatment is usually not necessary, but home care is important.
If your child develops food poisoning, ensure that he or she is drinking plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. The residue is
important.
Food poisoning usually run their course, so that your child should feel better in a few days.
About Food Poisoning
Food poisoning happens when bacteria get (and sometimes viruses or other germs) in food or drinks. You can not taste,
smell or see these germs, but these tiny organisms can have a powerful effect on the body.
Once the germs that cause food poisoning to get in a person's system, let some of them toxins. These toxins are
Toxins (hence the name "food poisoning"), which can cause diarrhea and vomiting.
Doctors often use "food poisoning" to describe a disease that comes on quickly after eating contaminated food. People
usually get diarrhea or start throwing themselves within a few hours after infection. Food poisoning usually goes away
quickly, and most people recover in a few days without lasting complications.
In a few cases, food poisoning can be severe enough to require a visit to the doctor or hospital. If people need
medical treatment for food poisoning, it is often due to dehydration, which is the most common serious complication of
Food poisoning.
Causes
Eating or drinking something that is contaminated with germs can food poisoning. Often people get food poisoning
of animal foods - such as meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products and seafood. But unwashed fruits, vegetables and
can also obtain other raw vegetables contaminated and someone sick. Water can also cause food poisoning.
Foods and liquids can be contaminated in many places in the food preparation, storage and handling. For example:
Water used to grow food can become infected with animal or human feces (droppings).
Meat or poultry come into contact with infectious microorganisms during processing or transport.
Foods can become infected with bacteria when they are stored at the wrong temperature or for too long.
Cooks can bypass or other foods contaminate food if they do not wash their hands is not right, or use unclean utensils
or cutting boards when preparing food.
People with health problems (such as chronic kidney disease) or weakened immune systems are at risk of getting sick
of food poisoning than those who are in good health.
Common food poisoning bacteria
A number of microorganisms can cause food poisoning. Common culprits are:
Salmonella. Salmonella is the most common cause of food poisoning in the United States. Receive these bacteria usually
in food if they. in contact with animal feces The main causes of salmonella poisoning eat dairy products
Products, undercooked meat and fresh produce that has not been washed well.
E. coli (Escherichia coli). Get E. coli bacteria also usually in food or water if they come into contact with animals
Feces. Eating undercooked ground beef is the most common cause of E. coli poisoning in the United States.
Listeria. These bacteria are usually found in unpasteurized dairy products, smoked fish, seafood and meat and meat products like hot
Dogs and luncheon meats. Listeria bacteria can also contaminate fruits and vegetables, but this is less common.
Campylobacter. These bacteria most commonly infect poultry, and unpasteurized milk. Campylobacter can also
Contaminate water. As with other types of bacteria, this usually get into food by contact with infected animals
Feces.
Staphylococcus aureus. These bacteria (which are found in contaminated meat, fresh salads and foods
Distribute dairy products) by hand contact, sneezing or coughing. This means that the infection of humans are transmitted
prepare or handle food.
Shigella. Shigella bacteria can infect shellfish or raw fruits and vegetables. Most of the time, these bacteria are spread
when people process food or prepare not wash their hands after using the toilet.
Hepatitis A. People usually get this virus from consumption of raw shellfish or food from someone who were treated
infected. It can be hard to locate the source of infection, because people can not get sick for 15 to 50 days
thereafter.
Noroviruses. These viruses usually contaminate food that has been prepared by an infected handler.
Signs of food poisoning
How food poisoning shows up depends on the germ that causes it. Sometimes a child will start to feel sick within an hour
or two of eating or drinking contaminated food or liquid. Other times, the symptoms may not appear for several weeks. In
most cases, the symptoms will clear up within 1-10 days.
Typically, someone will have with food poisoning:
Morning sickness
Abdominal pain and cramping
Throw up
Failure
Fever
Headache and general weakness
In rare cases, food poisoning someone feel dizzy, have blurred vision or notice tingling in the arms. In a very
rare cases of food poisoning cause difficulty breathing weakness, sometimes accompanied.
Certain types of infectious microorganisms, including Listeria and E. coli, can lead to potentially dangerous heart,
Kidney and bleeding.
When to call the doctor
Most cases of food poisoning do not require medical treatment, but some do. The most common serious problem that happens
with food poisoning is dehydration. A child who is healthy, it is unlikely to obtain as long as dehydrated as he or she drinks
sufficient to replace liquid, throw or lost through diarrhea.
Call the doctor if your child has any of these symptoms:
Vomiting that lasts for more than 12 hours
Diarrhea with fever higher than 101 ° F (38.3 ° C)
severe stomach pain that does not go away after a bowel movement
bloody feces (poop diarrhea or regular) or bloody vomit
Stools that are black or brown
a racing heart or palpitations
It is important to allow you to see any signs of dehydration:
extreme thirst
make little or no urine (pee)
Dizziness
sunken eyes
Dizziness or weakness
If your family recently been in a foreign country and your child begins with diarrhea or other gastrointestinal problems, call
Your doctor.
Food poisoning (especially dehydration) can be more serious for people with weakened immune systems or health conditions.
If your child has a health condition (such as kidney problems or sickle cell anemia), call your doctor immediately.
Pregnant women should let their doctors know if they get food poisoning, such as some bacteria can affect the unborn child.
The treatment of food poisoning
A doctor will ask what your child last ate and when the symptoms began. The doctor will do a test, and power
a sample of blood, stool or urine and send it to a laboratory for analysis. This will help the doctor find out which
Microorganism causing the disease.
Food poisoning usually runs its course and children better on their own. Occasionally, however, doctors
Antibiotics to treat severe types of bacterial food poisoning. If dehydration is severe, can be a child must
treated in a hospital with intravenous (IV) fluids.
At-Home Care
Food poisoning usually goes away on its own in a few days. To help your child feel better in the meantime, ensure that it
or she:
Gets plenty of rest.
Drink fluids to protect against dehydration. Electrolyte solutions work, but nothing except milk or caffeinated
Drinks are doing.
Often takes small sips to make it easier to keep the fluids.
Avoid solid foods and milk products until any diarrhea has stopped.
Do not give over-the-counter anti-diarrhea medications. These can take the symptoms of food poisoning longer. When
Diarrhea and vomiting have stopped, you can offer your child small, bland, low-fat meals for a few days to prevent further
Upset stomach.
If the symptoms are severe or you see signs of dehydration, call your doctor.
Prevent food poisoning
Following these tips can help reduce your family's risk of food poisoning:
Teach everyone in your family to wash their hands frequently and thoroughly, especially after using the toilet, before
Touching food, and after touching raw food. With warm water and soap and scrub for at least 15 seconds.
Clean all utensils, cutting boards and surfaces that you use to prepare food with hot, soapy water.
They serve unpasteurized milk or foods that do not contain unpasteurized milk.
Wash all raw vegetables and fruits that you do not peel yourself.
Keep raw foods (especially meat, poultry and seafood) away from other foods until they are cooked.
Use perishable food or a food with an expiration date as soon as possible.
Cook all food from animal sources to a safe internal temperature. For ground beef and pork, this means at least 160 ° F
(71 ° C). For solid pieces of meat, is the safe 145 ° F (63 ° C). For chicken and turkey (ground and whole), it is
at least 165 ° F (74 ° C). Cook eggs until the yolk is firm. Fish generally safe to eat once it reaches a
Temperature of 145 ° F (63 ° C).
Refrigerate leftovers quickly, preferably can be sealed in containers with lids that snapped.
Defrost food in the refrigerator, a microwave, or cold water. Food will never be thawed at room temperature.
If the food is past its expiration date, tastes funny, or strange smells, throw it away.
If you are pregnant, avoid all raw or undercooked meat or seafood, smoked fish, raw eggs and products that may
contain raw eggs, soft cheeses, unpasteurized milk and juice, pastes, prepared salads, lunch meats and hot dogs.
Do not drink untreated water from streams or wells.
If someone in your family develops food poisoning, contact your local health department. Officer could be able
to locate the cause and stop a potential outbreak that could affect others.