Food Poisoning Symptoms
What is Food Poisoning?
Food poisoning is generally mild but some of the times deadly illness may occur. General food poisoning symptoms includes vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and abdominal cramping which occurs within the 24 hours. This depends on the drinking or eating of food. These food poisoning symptoms affect a person or group of people, those ate the same thing.
Causes of Food Poisoning:
Most of the diseases causes because of food. Agents which are not discovered or unknown CDC estimate causes 81 percent illnesses of food borne and hospitalizations related. Many of the people suffering from mild food poisoning symptoms and recover fast so some of causes may not mention.
- The identified food poisoning causes can be divided into the 2 types: infectious agents and toxic agents.
- Infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and the parasites.
- Toxic agents such as improperly prepared exotic foods such as barracuda, poisonous mushrooms or the pesticides on vegetables and fruits.
- Food generally infected because of poor preparation or sanitation. Food makers or handlers do not wash hands after the use of bathroom or get infected them frequently cause contamination. Food which is packed improperly and stores in the wrong temperature, also cause the contamination.
Food Poisoning Symptoms:
Food poisoning symptoms depends on type of pollutant and how much you eat. Symptoms may improve fast within the 30 minutes, or develop slowly. Common pollutant causes vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramping and diarrhea. Food poisoning is normally not very serious.
- Viruses are responsible for causing the symptoms:
- Noroviruses: This is a group of viruses, which causes very mild illness with other symptoms like vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, low grade fever and the headache. This is very common viral and spreads through the shellfish, water and from vegetables.
- Rotavirus: It causes illness with the vomiting, watery diarrhea and fever. It is very common cause of the food poisoning in children and in infants and is shifted from person to person.
- Hepatitis A: It causes mild illness with the rapid beginning of fever, appetite loss, and feeling of tiredness. Jaundice is followed to these symptoms in which eyes and skin get yellow. It is also transmitted from one person to another by fecal pollution of food.
- Bacteria: This type of food poisoning causes in two different ways. Some bacteria contaminate the inside and cause the inflammation and cause the absorbing water and nutrients and leads to diarrhea. Other types of bacteria creates the chemicals in food which is also called as toxin and that affects on digestive system of the human. These bacteria lead to vomiting, nausea, failure of kidney and even the death. Following are types of bacteria:
- Salmonellae: This causes fair illness with the vomiting, nausea, crampy diarrhea, and the headache.
- Campylobacter: This causes mild illness with the fever, headache, watery diarrhea and the muscle pains. Campylobacter is mostly common food borne bacteria and send out through raw milk, raw poultry and water.
- Staphylococcus aureus: This causes harsh illness with the fast beginning of nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping and the dizziness. This bacteria creates toxin in the food such as in cakes and pies, in salad and in the dairy products.
- Bacillus cereus: This causes soft illness with fast beginning of vomiting, with/without diarrhea and the abdominal cramping. It is connected with starchy foods like rice, pasta etc.
- Escherichia coli (E coli): This causes harsh illness which begins as huge amount of the watery diarrhea and then terns into the diarrhea. It transmitted by eating the undercooked hamburger, unpasteurized juice or milk or impure water.
- 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.
- Parasites: It hardly ever causes the food poisoning. They cause the long time symptoms but they are very mild.
- Giardia (beaver fever): It causes very mild illness with the watery diarrhea which may be lasting 1 to 2 weeks. It may transmitted by drinking infected water which is from lake or stream in cool climates.
- The infection may also spread from one person to another person by the food.
- Cryptosporidium: It causes modest illness with the huge amount of watery diarrhea lasts in two-four days. It also crates long lasting problems such as poor immune system. It is transmitted through drinking water.
- Toxic agents: These agents are rarely responsible for causing the food poison. This caused because of selection of poor food or preparation of poor food.
- Mushroom toxins: Illness caused because of this can series from mild to fatal depending on eaten of mushroom. Common symptoms are vomiting, nausea and the diarrhea. Some of mushroom toxin produces nerve toxin which causes shaking, sweating, hallucinations and the coma.
- Ciguatera poisoning: This is caused by eating the fish which contains toxins also called as Gambierdiscus toxicus. It can cause modest to harsh illness with deadness of area around the lips and mouth which then spreads to legs, arms, vomiting, nausea, pains and weakness in muscles, dizziness, headache, and fast heartbeat. It also causes sensory problem such as cool things feel hot and vice versa. It is transmitted through eating game fish from particular water. Symptoms may be vanish in few days or weeks or may also remain for years.
- Scombroid: This causes mild illness with burning around the lips and mouth, sensations like peppery taste, a red rash on the upper side of the body, headache, dizziness and the itchy skin. Other common symptoms such as blurry vision, respiratory distress, and the swelling of the mouth and tongue. These symptoms last for 4 to 6 hours and rarely more than 1 to 2 days.
- Pesticides: This cause mild to harsh illness with the weakness, headache, blurred vision, cramps, increased saliva production, diarrhea, and the shaking of legs and arms.
Food Poisoning Treatment:
Self-Care at Home:
Short incident of the vomiting and diarrhea that lasting less than 24 hours can be cared at home:
- Drink abundance of fluid when you suffering from nausea or vomiting, but don't eat the solid food.
- Small and frequent sips of the clear fluids are a good option for staying hydrated.
- Avoid caffeinated, alcoholic or the sugary drinks. Over the counter products of rehydration made up for the children such as Rehydralyte and Pedialyte are very expensive and it is good to use if they are available.
- Sports drinks like Powerade and Gatorade are well for the adults if the drink is diluted with the water since they contain much sugar which causes diarrhea.
- After tolerating the fluid successfully, slowly start the eating, when the vomiting and nausea have ended. The plain food which is good for the stomach should be started in little amount. Prefer the food which contains wheat, rice, breads, potatoes, lean meats, and non fried chicken.
Medical Treatment:
Main treatment on food poisoning is placing fluid back in the body. This process is known as rehydration and is done by drinking water or through an IV. In some cases patient have to be admitted in the hospital. Children's care must be taken particularly.
- Prescribed medicines on anti-vomiting and diarrhea.
- The doctor treated on the fever for making patient much comfortable.
- For food poisoning, antibiotics are rarely useful. In some of the cases antibiotics causes the problems.
- Treatment on mushroom poisoning or eating infected foods requires the aggressive treatment. This treatment includes pumping the stomach, taking the antibodies. These poisoning causes very serious problems and some times require intensive care in hospital.
