Sep 22, 2008 10:48 am US/Eastern
Dr. Mallika's Files: Bad Case Of Food Poisoning
Each week Dr. Mallika Marshall shares cases based on true stories from a local urgent care clinic, exclusively on wbztv.com. Names and identifiable characteristics of patients have been omitted or changed to protect patient privacy.
This Week's Case: A 56-year-old woman came to the clinic complaining of three days of watery diarrhea and abdominal cramps. She said she was having more than ten stools a day and every time she tried to eat or drink something, she had to run to the bathroom. She had no fever and was not vomiting. No one else in her family was sick. A stool culture grew
Salmonella bacteria. Salmonella is a bacterium that can infect the intestinal tract. There are more than 2,000 types of Salmonella and the one involved in the recent Salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is actually uncommon. According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are
more than 40,000 cases of salmonella illness reported each year, though there are probably many that go unreported.
Anyone can get Salmonella and most cases aren't severe. Symptoms usually include diarrhea, which may be bloody, and abdominal pain. Patients may also complain of fever, nausea, and vomiting. Symptoms usually start 1-3 days after infection. Most patients do not need special treatment, just hydration and rest, but sometimes doctors will prescribe an antibiotic to treat the infection.
Salmonella can be found on any raw food that comes from animals, like meat, poultry, milk, dairy products, eggs, and seafood, and it can also contaminate some fruits and vegetables. Proper kitchen hygiene, like washing your produce well and cooking your meats thoroughly, is the best way to protect yourself from Salmonella and other food-borne illnesses.
Follow-up After several days, the patient's diarrhea began to taper. She was treated with a three day course of antibiotics and shortly thereafter, her symptoms completely resolved.
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