Food poisoning is illness caused by consumption of food contaiminated by bacteria, viruses, fungus or other toxins.
1-How many die due to food poisoning ?
Food poisoning is killing 420 000 persons every year world over as per World Health Organisation (WHO).
125 000 Children under 5 years of age die every year due to food borne disease. Almost 40% of victims of the foodborne disease are children under 5 years.
What is Incubation period in food poisoning ?
The period between consumption of a contaminated food and appearance of the first symptoms of illness is called the incubation period.
The incubation period can last for hours to days.In some rare cases even months or even years, such as in the case of listeriosis or bovine spongiform encephalopathy), depending on the agent, and on how much was consumed.
If symptoms occur within one to six hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.
The long incubation period of many foodborne illnesses tends to cause sufferers to attribute their symptoms to gastroenteritis.
During the incubation period, microbes pass through the stomach into the intestine, attach to the cells lining the intestinal walls, and begin to multiply there.
Some types of microbes stay in the intestine, some produce a toxin that is absorbed into the bloodstream, and some can directly invade the deeper body tissues.
The symptoms produced depend on the type of microbe.
Infectious dose in food poisoning
The infectious dose is the amount of agent that must be consumed to give rise to symptoms of foodborne illness, and varies according to the agent and the consumers age and overall health. Pathogens vary in minimum infectious dose; for example, Shigella sonnei has a low estimated minimum dose of < 500 colony-forming units (CFU) while Staphylococcus aureus has a relatively high estimate. In the case of Salmonella a relatively large inoculum of 1 million to 1 billion organisms is necessary to produce symptoms in healthy human volunteers,as Salmonellae are very sensitive to acid. An unusually high stomach pH level (low acidity) greatly reduces the number of bacteria required to cause symptoms by a factor of between 10 and 100.Epidemiology
Asymptomatic subclinical infection may help spread these diseases, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, V. cholerae, and Yersini. For example, as of 1984 it was estimated that in the United States, 200,000 people were asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella.Infants and food poisoning
Globally, infants are a population that are especially vulnerable to foodborne disease. The World Health Organization has issued recommendations for the preparation, use and storage of prepared formulas. Breastfeeding remains the best preventative measure for protection of foodborne infections in infants. The vast majority of reported cases of foodborne illness occur as individual or sporadic cases. The origin of most sporadic cases is undetermined. In the United States, where people eat outside the home frequently, 58% of cases originate from commercial food facilities (2004 FoodNet data). Outbreak of food poisoning An outbreak is defined as occurring when two or more people experience similar illness after consuming food from a common source. Often, a combination of events contributes to an outbreak, for example, food might be left at room temperature for many hours, allowing bacteria to multiply which is compounded by inadequate cooking which results in a failure to kill the dangerously elevated bacterial levels. Outbreaks are usually identified when those affected know each other. However, more and more, outbreaks are identified by public health staff from unexpected increases in laboratory results for certain strains of bacteria. Outbreak detection and investigation in the United States is primarily handled by local health jurisdictions and is inconsistent from district to district. It is estimated that 1–2% of outbreaks are detected. Food may be contaminated during all stages of food production and retailing. In order to prevent viral contamination, regulatory authorities in Europe have enacted several measures:- European Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of November 15, 2005
- European Committee for Standardization (CEN): Standard method for the detection of norovirus and hepatitis A virus in food products (shellfish, fruits and vegetables, surfaces and bottled water)
- CODEX Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH): Guideline for the application of general principles of food hygiene for the control of viruses in food
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Food poisoning is illness caused by consumption of food contaiminated by bacteria, viruses, fungus or other toxins.
1-How many die due to food poisoning ?
Food poisoning is killing 420 000 persons every year world over as per World Health Organisation (WHO).
125 000 Children under 5 years of age die every year due to food borne disease. Almost 40% of victims of the foodborne disease are children under 5 years.
What is Incubation period in food poisoning ?
The period between consumption of a contaminated food and appearance of the first symptoms of illness is called the incubation period.
The incubation period can last for hours to days.In some rare cases even months or even years, such as in the case of listeriosis or bovine spongiform encephalopathy), depending on the agent, and on how much was consumed.
If symptoms occur within one to six hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.
The long incubation period of many foodborne illnesses tends to cause sufferers to attribute their symptoms to gastroenteritis.
During the incubation period, microbes pass through the stomach into the intestine, attach to the cells lining the intestinal walls, and begin to multiply there.
Some types of microbes stay in the intestine, some produce a toxin that is absorbed into the bloodstream, and some can directly invade the deeper body tissues.
The symptoms produced depend on the type of microbe.
Infectious dose in food poisoning
The infectious dose is the amount of agent that must be consumed to give rise to symptoms of foodborne illness, and varies according to the agent and the consumers age and overall health. Pathogens vary in minimum infectious dose; for example, Shigella sonnei has a low estimated minimum dose of < 500 colony-forming units (CFU) while Staphylococcus aureus has a relatively high estimate. In the case of Salmonella a relatively large inoculum of 1 million to 1 billion organisms is necessary to produce symptoms in healthy human volunteers,as Salmonellae are very sensitive to acid. An unusually high stomach pH level (low acidity) greatly reduces the number of bacteria required to cause symptoms by a factor of between 10 and 100.Epidemiology
Asymptomatic subclinical infection may help spread these diseases, particularly Staphylococcus aureus, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, V. cholerae, and Yersini. For example, as of 1984 it was estimated that in the United States, 200,000 people were asymptomatic carriers of Salmonella.Infants and food poisoning
Globally, infants are a population that are especially vulnerable to foodborne disease. The World Health Organization has issued recommendations for the preparation, use and storage of prepared formulas. Breastfeeding remains the best preventative measure for protection of foodborne infections in infants. The vast majority of reported cases of foodborne illness occur as individual or sporadic cases. The origin of most sporadic cases is undetermined. In the United States, where people eat outside the home frequently, 58% of cases originate from commercial food facilities (2004 FoodNet data). Outbreak of food poisoning An outbreak is defined as occurring when two or more people experience similar illness after consuming food from a common source. Often, a combination of events contributes to an outbreak, for example, food might be left at room temperature for many hours, allowing bacteria to multiply which is compounded by inadequate cooking which results in a failure to kill the dangerously elevated bacterial levels. Outbreaks are usually identified when those affected know each other. However, more and more, outbreaks are identified by public health staff from unexpected increases in laboratory results for certain strains of bacteria. Outbreak detection and investigation in the United States is primarily handled by local health jurisdictions and is inconsistent from district to district. It is estimated that 1–2% of outbreaks are detected. Food may be contaminated during all stages of food production and retailing. In order to prevent viral contamination, regulatory authorities in Europe have enacted several measures:- European Commission Regulation (EC) No 2073/2005 of November 15, 2005
- European Committee for Standardization (CEN): Standard method for the detection of norovirus and hepatitis A virus in food products (shellfish, fruits and vegetables, surfaces and bottled water)
- CODEX Committee on Food Hygiene (CCFH): Guideline for the application of general principles of food hygiene for the control of viruses in food
