With food poisoning, symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea occur. In many cases, these symptoms disappear on their own. Sometimes botulism occurs. This is a dangerous variant of food poisoning. For example, babies who eat honey can suffer from infant botulism. We distinguish food poisoning in the narrow sense and food infection. The first is what we are going to talk about in this article. The body does not react to the fungus or bacteria itself, but to the toxin. This is a toxin that the bacteria or fungus produces. Treatment after food poisoning is sometimes necessary.
What is food poisoning?
Food poisoning is an illness that occurs after eating contaminated or poisoned food. We distinguish the food infection, which we are most familiar with, and food poisoning in the narrow sense. A foodborne infection is an infection caused by eating food contaminated with microorganisms. A well-known example is the salmonella bacteria. Bacteria, fungi or viruses that are present in large numbers in food can cause a food infection.
Food poisoning is also caused by bacteria or fungi. This immediately makes it confusing, because when does food poisoning occur? Food poisoning, as it is also called, involves toxins produced by bacteria or fungi. In a strict sense, we absorb the toxins through food.
What are toxins?
Toxins are poisons produced by bacteria or fungi. Toxins can be secreted both while the bacteria are alive and after death. Killing the bacteria in the food therefore does not guarantee that the toxins have disappeared. In small quantities, toxins have a toxic effect on the human body. The most common bacteria that causes food poisoning is staphylococcal bacteria. This bacterium multiplies in food and spreads the poisonous toxin there. The bacteria mainly contain whipped cream and milk, but also meat and fish.
Symptoms
Both a food infection and food poisoning have the same symptoms. This involves nausea with vomiting and diarrhea. In severe cases, there is even blood in the watery stools. The first symptoms occur after a few hours to sometimes a few days after eating the poisoned food. The toxin can damage the mucous membrane of the gastrointestinal tract, causing diarrhea. This often has a short incubation period: this means that the time between infection and the first symptoms is short. An inflammatory reaction of the mucous membrane may also occur. In this case, there is a longer incubation period. A combination of both is also possible.
Botulism
occurs when contamination occurs with the toxin from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum . This is caused by the toxin botulinum, one of the most poisonous substances known. One millionth of a gram of botulinum is capable of killing a human. So it is an extremely dangerous toxin. Honey may contain spores of the bacteria. This is harmless to children and adults, but in young children under 12 months old the spores can develop into adult bacteria. This is because babies do not yet have a mature gastrointestinal tract. We speak of ‘Infant botulism’ in these children.
Botulism itself mainly occurs in water birds and fish. When people get botulism, it is mainly due to eating contaminated meat and especially contaminated meat. This happened more often in the past. Dead waterfowl and fish left in the water can contaminate the water with botulinum. This allows the toxin to be drunk unintentionally.
The first symptoms of botulism occur between 10 and 20 hours. Diarrhea and a feeling of thirst occur. Nausea with vomiting often occurs after 2 to 7 days. Dizziness and abdominal pain also quickly occur. Botulinum mainly works on the nerve cells. Here we see deterioration of vision such as blurred and double vision, difficulty speaking and relaxation of the muscles. This muscle weakness occurs not only in the limbs, but also in the respiratory muscles. This can cause shortness of breath. The disease is often fatal. Yet there are people who survive the disease. In these cases, no immunity is built up and the disease can occur again.
Treatment after food poisoning
Prevention is more important than cure. Foods must be stored properly. These are often stored too warm, which allows the bacteria to multiply quickly. Products such as whipped cream, milk and meat definitely belong in the refrigerator! In addition, the refrigerator should not be higher than 7 degrees. In addition, food that is heated must be cooked/baked/roasted at a minimum of 75 degrees Celsius. The storage temperature is at least 65 degrees. If not consumed, the heated food must be placed in the refrigerator within two hours.
Treatment mainly consists of preventing dehydration by drinking enough fluids. The elderly and very young children, but also people with a weakened immune system, sometimes need help against dehydration. Sometimes admission to hospital is necessary. If diarrhea and vomiting persist, it is advisable to consult a doctor. This especially applies to the risk groups mentioned earlier.
Botulism must be treated immediately. Without treatment, more than half of all patients die. An antiserum is administered that inhibits the action of the dangerous toxin. Sometimes artificial respiration is necessary.
