Written by admin on 2009-05-15T09:01:35+0000">May 15, 2009 – 9:01 am
The bacteria are usually excreted in the faeces and contaminate food by being transferred to the hands after using the toilet and then to the food being handled. Contamination of water supplies from human excreta is the main method of spread of other bowel infections, such a cholera.
Gastro-enteritis, where there is usually nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and sometimes fever, may be due either to bacteria or viruses.
Most cases in babies and small children are believed to be due to the Rota virus, discovered only in recent years.
Most stomach and bowel infections are shortlived and spontaneously settle within a couple of days. Antibiotics are widely prescribed for these but, in most cases, are unnecessary and may even be dangerous.
Those cases which are severe or do not rapidly settle should be investigated usually by examination of a stool sample so the specific agent causing the disease may be identified and proper treatment used.
The old name of “ptomaine poisoning” came from the belief that food poisoning was due to the action of ptomaines, toxic substances produced by bacterial decomposition of protein.
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