When Veronica came back, two of her children were complaining of severe stomach ache. All the home remedies she gave did not work. She took the children to the hospital where it was discovered that the children had food poisoning. The test showed that there was salmonella bacteria in what they ate which caused the stomach ache. They children were given the necessary medication and they went home.
But then, Veronica did a retrospect to know what the children ate that caused the food poisoning. It was then she took some of the soup the children had eaten and noticed that it had a sour taste. The meat already smelt bad too.
Food poisoning is defined as any disease of an infectious or toxic nature caused by the consumption of food or drink. The term is most often used to describe the illness, usually diarrhoea and/or vomiting caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites.
Mrs Serah Abagai, Head Dietetics Department, National Hospital explains further. “The effect of bacteria in the body is food poison. It could cause diaheroe, or vomiting, stomach cramps. It could be serious food poisoning especially if it has to do with meat. Some food poisoning could lead to death. Food poisoning from Clostridium could lead to death. It could be salmonella. They are many bacteria’s which cause food borne illness. Salmonella can be destroyed by cooking food for a long time.”Abagai explains.
Salmonella may be present in raw meat, poultry and occasionally eggs. For the remainder, Staphylococcus Aureus, Clostridium Perfringens and Bacillus Cereus produce toxins or poisons in food which may result in severe vomiting. Perfringens is usually associated with meat and Bacillus Cereus with rice.
Also, some variants of normal intestinal bacteria are a cause of food poisoning. A particularly severe type is caused by E. Coli. It is present in some cattle and may contaminate raw meat. It can cause bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure, particularly in the elderly, but is only rarely a cause of food poisoning.
Experts say some types of food poisoning can produce symptoms within a few hours of the contaminated food being eaten, while others may not occur for some days. Stapylococus Aureus or Bacillus Cereus will typically cause illness between 2-12 hours after the meal, whilst symptoms of Salmonella or Clostridium Perfringens usually develop between 12-24 hours afterwards. Infections with Campylobacters are slow to produce symptoms and illness may occur up to a week or more after the infected food has been eaten. Most food borne infections can be resolved without medical attention. Depending on the type of bacterial infection antibiotics may be prescribed in some cases. Before doing this, the doctor will usually require a stool specimen for analysis, in order to discover which particular bacterium is responsible.
However, Abagai explains how to prevent food from being contaminated. “For your food to be safe, from preparation to cooking, those precautionary measures count. Remember you may be bringing something from the garden that may have suffered faecal contamination. So you must wash your vegetables with a lot of patience. Wash your vegetables one by one under running water. After that soak vegetables in salt water for three minutes at least. It can help remove the bacteria on the surfaces.”Abagai explained.
