Foodborne Illness
Foodborne illness may follow ingestion of foods contaminated with bacteria, algae, protozoa, parasites and other organism, as the result of food sensitives or chemical or drug contamination.
Foodborne illness is an important cause of acute morbidity and increased short term mortality.
Approximately 600 outbreaks of foodborne illness are reported to the CDC every year.
In addition, infections with Salmonella, Campylobacter and Yersinia enterocolitica are associated with increased long term mortality.
When faced with the symptoms of acute gastrointestinal illness, structural, functional and metabolic causes must also be considered.
Because incubation periods of foodborne illness may quite long, with many meals and other activities occurring in the interim, the association between contaminated food intake may not be made or may be erroneous.
Evaluating the differential diagnosis and initiating treatment before a definitive diagnosis is available are significant clinical challenges.
Bacterial organisms are the most common cause of foodborne illness and may be result of other direct action of the organism or the action of endo or exotoxins.
The incubation period depends on whether there is a preformed exotoxin, which generally produces symptoms sooner than illness that results from organisms that must first reproduce and elaborate a toxin in the gastrointestinal tract.
Salmonella was the most commonly reported foodborne poisoning reported to the CDC. Other common bacterial causes included Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringes, Shigella, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Complybactor species, Streptococcus, listeria monocytogenes, Clostridium botulinum, Vibrio parahaemolyticus and Y. enterolitica.
Marine agents and toxins may produce similar symptoms. Common parasitic causes of diarrhea include Guardia, Cryptosporidium and Entamoeba histolytica.
Rotavirus is the most common cause of acute diarrhea among children, accounting for one fourth of all cases, but many virus can cause diarrhea as well, including Norwalk like virus, enteric adeno-viruses, astroviruses and calciviruses.
Foodborne Illness
