Causes of Food Poisoning
Food poisoning is a very common problem. It is caused by unhygienic conditions like serving and cooking food in unhygienic condition, stored food for longer period. Many times contaminated food causes infections of different pathogen. Food is contaminated by bacteria and toxins or chemicals released by bacteria.
Eating bacterial contaminated food causes food infection. Sometimes-poisonous substances or toxins secreted by bacteria cause food infection. Contaminated water with bacteria and toxins cause infection. If fruits and vegetables are not properly washed, then it causes food infection. Uncooked or raw food transfers infection. Uncooked poultry food or meat are not sterile, therefore eating contaminated food causes food poisoning.
There are some common type of bacteria that mostly causes food infection or food poisoning
Salmonella
- Salmonella bacteria are present everywhere in the world. Mostly present in the large sized population, in hotels and restaurants, in schools and colleges.
- Salmonella is a genus and it includes different species or strains. It includes bacteria of gram negative, rod shaped type.
- Bacteria are motile due to presence of flagella. Salmonella do not form spores.
- Bacteria of this genus are very infective can transfer infection form humans to animals and from animals to humans.
- Salmonella transfer to human body by infected food like eggs, uncooked poultry and beef , unwashed vegetables and fruits
- After salmonella infection, a person shows symptoms in between 12 hrs to 3 days
- Salmonella infection causes complications in infants, old persons, people with weak immune system and AIDS patients
- Bacterial infection causes diarrhea, headache, vomiting, loss of appetite, cramps in abdomen and fever
Shigella enteritis
- Shigella enteritis is a gram negative and non spores type of bacterium
- Shigella bacteria transfers from human to human by oral-fecal contamination
- If you don't wash your hands properly, after going to the toilet; it may result in infections
- Activities by infected hands like touching other objects, smoking and eating transfer shigella infection
- After infection, symptoms appear in between one to seven days
- The patient shows symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, fever, increase in WBC count in the blood, pain in abdomen
Escherichia coli
- Commonly known as an E. coli. Some strains of Escherichia are harmless and found everywhere in nature and the human intestine.
- Chemical secreted by harmful strain causes serious effect on the body like bloody diarrhea, problems in kidney functioning and damages in intestinal lining
- E.coli can transfer through uncooked food, improper boiled milk, unwashed fruits and vegetables, contaminated water, ocean, and poultry food
Botulism
- These are spore forming bacteria causing serious effect on the body
- Mostly present in the soil and transfer in the body through mouth
- Clostridium botulism rarely shows diarrhea and vomiting. It affects nervous system of the patient
- Botulism infected patient shows symptoms like weakness, double vision, nervousness, and numbness. These symptoms can continue in paralysis or failure of respiratory system
Food borne diseases are very easy to prevent and control, if proper care is taken like personal hygiene, cleanliness, and avoiding uncooked food material
