Background
Food may be contaminated by bacteria, viruses, parasites, chemicals, and toxins.
Clinical
- Fever and bloody diarrhoea - Salmonella or Shigella
- Vomiting and watery diarrhoea with norovirus infection
- Sepsis or meningitis with Listeria infection
Beware systemic complications:
- Haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli
- Guillain Barré syndrome with Campylobacter
- Encephalitis with toxoplasmosis etc
Commonest causes food borne disease (and death) are norovirus, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Clostridium perfringens. Rarer but more serious are Toxoplasma and E. coli O157.
- Contamination from animals: Salmonella, Campylobacter, E. coli O157
- Contamination from humans: most other food-borne illnesses
HUS Alert
Verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC1) is responsible for recent outbreaks of gastroenteritis. Many cases also develop haemolytic uraemic Syndrome (HUS) with a significant mortality rate.
VTEC1 is very infectious (person to person and droplet spread).
Ireland has the highest notification rate of VTEC in Europe.
HUS is mainly see in the young and elderly, typically a week after VTEC diarrhoea onset and and may progress to multiorgan failure.
Reduce risk
- Do not under-cook esp. eggs, poultry, meat , fish
- Wash all produce prior to cooking
- Hand-washing before handling foods
- Remember that many food borne illnesses are Notifiable (e.g. salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis, listeriosis, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infection)