2.3. Food borne infections.

Food borne infections

  • Foodborne infections are a group of diseases that can be contracted by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated beverages.
  • More than 250 different foodborne diseases have been described in the literature.
  • Foodborne intestinal infections are caused by microorganisms or other substances in food.

Clinical signs of these diseases depend on the etiological factor, i.e. the pathogen that entered the human body with food or water.

  • The severity of the disease depends on the amount of foodborne pathogens, the immune status, and the patient’s age.
  • Typical symptoms: vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, frequent and profuse diarrhea, fever.

Incubation period

The time from consuming contaminated food to the first symptoms is called the incubation period.

  • It can vary with the physiological characteristics of the person and with the type of food contamination, e.g.; if food is contaminated with staphylococcus, symptoms may appear after 1-2 hours, if food is contaminated with bacteria E.coli 0157, symptoms may appear after 2-3 days, if food is contaminated with bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, symptoms may appear even after 70 days.
  • Most of the time, people think that they got poisoned from the last food they ate, but this is not always true.

 

The most vulnerable groups

Certain groups of people are very susceptible to infections. For them, food poisoning can cause many complications or even be life-threatening.

The most vulnerable groups include:

  • children,
  • elderly people,
  • patients,
  • people with chronic diseases,
  • persons with a weakened immune system,
  • pregnant womens.

Spread of foodborne infection

  • Most often, pathogens are spread by patients with diarrhea. As a result, the spread of microorganisms or viruses in the fecal-oral way is very active.
  • Viruses can be spread in the environment by other persons who do not show clinical signs of the infection, but they are unknowingly spreaders of the infection, especially if they do not follow personal hygiene, they are called asymptomatic carriers.

Source of infection

  • Unwashed or improperly washed hands are the most common cause of foodborne illness outbreaks.
  • Pathogens get on a person’s hands by touching a door handle, picking up the same object (tool), etc.
  • Microbes on the hands, touching the mouth, nose, or eating contaminate food, and when they enter the body, they cause disease.

Thus, if the technological/hygienic mode of food preparation is violated (especially in production workshops, public catering establishments) – common inventory, equipment, dishes, sinks, common refrigerators are used, personal hygiene is not observed, especially after processing raw materials – pathogenic pathogens (e.g. salmonella) are introduced into prepared food products, and only one thing is needed: heat (>20° C) and time (at least 1 hour) for pathogens to multiply.

 

 

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