FOOD POISONING

Food Poisoning Symptoms

Symptoms of food poisoning depend on the type of contaminant and the amount eaten. The symptoms can develop rapidly, within 30 minutes, or slowly, worsening over days to weeks. Most of the common contaminants cause nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. Usually food poisoning is not serious, and the illness runs its course in 24-48 hours.

• Viruses account for most food poisoning cases where a specific contaminant is found.
  
  
  • Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause a mild illness (often termed "stomach flu") with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, headache, and low-grade fever. These symptoms usually resolve in two to three days. It is the most common viral cause of adult food poisoning and is transmitted from water, shellfish, and vegetables contaminated by feces, as well as from person to person. Outbreaks are more common in densely populated areas such as nursing homes, schools and cruise ships (hence why the virus is also known as the "Cruise Ship Illness"). The term norovirus has been approved as the official name for this group of viruses. Several other names have been used for noroviruses, including Norwalk-like viruses, caliciviruses (because they belong to the virus family Caliciviridae), and small round structured viruses.
  
  
  
  • Rotavirus: Causes moderate to severe illness with vomiting followed by watery diarrhea and fever. It is the most common cause of food poisoning in infants and children and is transmitted from person to person by fecal contamination of food and shared play areas.
  
  
  
  • Hepatitis A: Causes mild illness with sudden onset of fever, loss of appetite, and feeling of tiredness followed by jaundice, which is a yellowing of the eyes and skin. It is transmitted from person to person by fecal contamination of food.


• Bacteria can cause food poisoning in two different ways. Some bacteria infect the intestines, causing inflammation and difficulty absorbing nutrients and water, leading to diarrhea. Other bacteria produce chemicals in foods (known as toxins) that are poisonous to the human digestive system. When eaten, these chemicals can lead to nausea and vomiting, kidney failure, and even death.
  
  
  • Salmonellae: Salmonellae are bacteria that may cause food poisoning; the illness itself is often referred to as Salmonella or Salmonella infection. Salmonellae cause a moderate illness with nausea, vomiting, crampy diarrhea, and headache, which may come back a few weeks later as arthritis (joint pains). In people with impaired immune systems (such as people with kidney disease or HIV/AIDS or those receiving chemotherapy for cancer), Salmonellae can cause a life-threatening illness. The illness is transmitted by undercooked foods such as eggs, poultry, dairy products, and seafood.
  
  
  
  • Campylobacter: Causes mild illness with fever, watery diarrhea, headache, and muscle aches. Campylobacter is the most commonly identified food-borne bacterial infection encountered in the world. It is transmitted by raw poultry, raw milk, and water contaminated by animal feces.
  
  
  
  • Staphylococcus aureus: Causes moderate to severe illness with rapid onset of nausea, severe vomiting, dizziness, and abdominal cramping. These bacteria produce a toxin in foods such as cream-filled cakes and pies, salads (most at risk are potato, macaroni, egg, and tuna salads, for example) and dairy products. Contaminated salads at picnics are common if the food is not chilled properly.
  
  
  
  • Bacillus cereus: Causes mild illness with rapid onset of vomiting, with or without diarrhea and abdominal cramping. It is associated with rice (mainly fried rice) and other starchy foods such as pasta or potatoes. It has been speculated that this bacteria may also be used as a potential terrorist weapon.
  
  
  
  • Escherichia coli (E coli): Causes moderate to severe illness that begins as large amounts of watery diarrhea, which then turns into bloody diarrhea. There are many different types of this bacteria. The worst strain can cause kidney failure and death (about 3%-5% of all cases). It is transmitted by eating raw or undercooked hamburger, unpasteurized milk or juices, or contaminated well water. Outbreaks of food poisoning due to E. coli have also occurred following ingestion of contaminated produce.
  
  
  
  • Shigella (traveler’s diarrhea): Causes moderate to severe illness with fever, diarrhea containing blood or mucus or both, and the constant urge to have bowel movements. It is transmitted in water polluted with human wastes.
  
  
  
  • Clostridium botulinum (botulism): Causes severe illness affecting the nervous system. Symptoms start as blurred vision. The person then develops problems talking and overall weakness. Symptoms then progress to breathing difficulty and the inability to move arms or legs. Infants and young children are particularly at risk. It is transmitted in foods such as home-packed canned goods, honey, sausages, and seafood.
  Because botulism can be released in the air, it is considered a potential biological weapon for terrorists.
  
  
  • Vibrio cholerae: Causes mild to moderate illness with crampy diarrhea, headache, nausea, vomiting, and fever with chills. It strikes mostly in the warmer months of the year and is transmitted by infected, undercooked, or raw seafood.


• Parasites rarely cause food poisoning. When they do, they are usually swallowed in contaminated or untreated water and cause long-lasting but mild symptoms.
  
  
  • Giardia (beaver fever): Causes mild illness with watery diarrhea often lasting one to two weeks. It is transmitted by drinking contaminated water, often from lakes or streams in cooler mountainous climates.
  The infection can also be spread from person to person by food or other items contaminated with feces from an infected person.
  
  
  • Cryptosporidium: Causes moderate illness with large amounts of watery diarrhea lasting two to four days. May become a long-lasting problem in people with poor immune systems (such as people with kidney disease or HIV/AIDS or those on chemotherapy for cancer). It is transmitted by contaminated drinking water.


• Toxic agents are the least common cause of food poisoning. Illness is often an isolated episode caused by poor food preparation or selection (such as picking wild mushrooms).
  
  
  • Mushroom toxins: Illness can range from mild to deadly depending on the type of mushroom eaten. Often there is nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Some types of mushrooms produce a nerve toxin, which causes sweating, shaking, hallucinations, and coma.
  
  
  
  • Ciguatera poisoning: Caused by eating fish that contains toxins produced by a marine algae called Gambierdiscus toxicus. It can cause moderate to severe illness with numbness of the area around the mouth and lips that can spread to the arms and legs, nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and weakness, headache, dizziness, and rapid heartbeat. The toxin may cause sensory problems in which hot things feel cold and cold things feel hot. It is transmitted by eating certain large game fish from tropical waters—most specifically barracuda, grouper, snapper, and jacks. According to the CDC, ciguatera has no cure. Symptoms may disappear in days or weeks, but may persist for years.
  
  
  
  • Scombroid: Causes mild to moderate illness with facial flushing, burning around the mouth and lips, peppery-taste sensations, a red rash on the upper body, dizziness, headache, and itchy skin. Severe symptoms may include blurry vision, respiratory distress, and swelling of the tongue and mouth. Symptoms typically last from four to six hours, and rarely more than one or two days. It is transmitted in seafood, mostly mahi-mahi and tuna, but can also be in Swiss cheese.
  
  
  
  • Pesticides: Cause mild to severe illness with weakness, blurred vision, headache, cramps, diarrhea, increased production of saliva, and shaking of the arms and legs. Toxins are transmitted by eating unwashed fruits or vegetables contaminated with pesticides.

ARTICLES SOURCE: http://www.emedicinehealth.com