Food Poisoning And Control Flashcards
What is the most common cause of entercolitis in the UK?
Salmonella enterica serotype, which is a gram negative bacilli that replicates in the small intestinal mucosa. It has an incubation time of 12-48 hours after exposure to contaminated food of red meat or dairy products and a recovery time of 4-7 days. It causes vomiting and diarrhoea, due to enteric fever and enterocolitis.
How can salmonella enterica be prevented?
Cooking foods at high temperatures of 70 degrees for 10 minutes.
What is enterocolitis?
Inflammation of both the small intestine and the colon, due to infection with salmonella enterica.
What is enteric fever?
A serotype of Salmonella enterica called salmonella typhi results in Enteric fever (aka Typhoid fever) where the bacteria is transmitted via faeco-oral route through contaminated food or water which is more common in lower income countries. It causes a sustained high fever and causes bacteriaemia, targeting the lymph nodes for replication and dysfunction of liver and spleen.
Which bacterial cause of food poisoning occurs due to poor hand hygeine?
Staphylococcus aureus, a gram positive cocci bacteria which forms part of the normal skin flora and upper respiratory tract. Contamination has a fast incubation time of 2-4 hours and results in projectile vomiting and diarrhoea, which has a rapid onset of symptoms for 6-12 hours that is resolved within 12-24 hours.
What is incubation time?
Time taken for symptoms to appear after exposure to pathogen.
What is the most common viral cause of food poisoning??
Norovirus, a single stranded positive sense RNA virus which is commonly transmitted from contained food or water or direct contamination from infected people to others in close-living quarters and is considered a ‘winter vomiting virus.’
What is the presentation of norovirus?
It has a 24-48 hour incubation period after exposure, and lasts for 1-2 days. There is projectile vomiting, low fever, diarrhoea and nausea.
What is the most common cause of food poisoning in the UK?
Campylobacter jejuni, a gram negative spiral shaped bacteria which is transmitted through contaminated meat and unpasteurised milk with an incubation period of 1-11 days. There will be abdominal pain, fever and diarrhoea however vomiting is uncommon and it lasts for 7 days.
What is the resorvoir of campylobacter jejuni?
Birds and poultry, cattle and pets.
What is the treatment of campylobacter jejuni?
Typically it is supportive treatment to prevent dehydration, however erythromycin can be used in the infectious stage.
Which condition does campylobacter jejuni increase the risk of?
Guillan-Barre syndrome, where there is autoimmune destruction of nerve cells.
What is a common parasitic cause of food poisoning?
Infection with cryptosporidium due to the ingestion of cysts in contamined water that survives chlorinated treatment which invade the small intestine gastrointestinal mucosa and result in malabsorption and watery diarrhoea. It is associated with foreign travel and exposure during swimming or camping.
What is the incubation period of cryptosporidium?
1-12 days but most common is 7 days. The symptoms include watery diarrhoea and last 1-2 weeks.
What is E.Coli?
Gram negative bacilli which is transmitted typically through undercooked hamburger meat or unpasteurised milk. In the GI tract it produces enterotoxins that lead to haemorrhagic colitis and haemolytic uraemia syndrome.
