Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Sigh?

A foodborne illness, also foodborne disease and commonly called food poisoning, is any illness resulting from the consumption of food contaminated with infectious or toxic agents; it can affect any person.[1] Infectious agents include pathogenic bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. Such contamination usually arises from improper handling, preparation, or food storage. Good hygiene practices before, during, and after food preparation can reduce the chances of contracting an illness. The action of monitoring food to ensure that it will not cause foodborne illness is known as food safety. Foodborne disease can also be caused by a large variety of toxins that affect the environment

Symptoms and mortality

Symptoms typically begin several hours to several days after ingestion and depending on the agent involved, can include one or more of the following: nausea, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, headache or tiredness. In most cases the body is able to permanently recover after a short period of acute discomfort and illness. However, foodborne illness can result in permanent health problems or even death, especially in babies, pregnant women (and their fetuses), elderly people, sick people and others with weak immune systems. Similarly, people with liver disease are especially susceptible to infections from Vibrio vulnificus, which can be found in oysters.


If symptoms occur within 1-6 hours after eating the food, it suggests that it is caused by a bacterial toxin or a chemical rather than live bacteria.

Exotoxins

In addition to disease caused by direct bacterial infection, some foodborne illnesses are caused by exotoxins which are excreted by the cell as the bacterium grows. Exotoxins can produce illness even when the microbes that produced them have been killed. Symptoms typically appear after 1-6 hours depending on the amount of toxin ingested.

For example Staphylococcus aureus produces a toxin that causes intense vomiting. The rare but potentially deadly disease botulism occurs when the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium botulinum grows in improperly canned low-acid foods and produces a powerful paralytic toxin.

Emerging foodborne pathogens There is still alot we do not know about foodborne illness. Sixty some percent of outbreaks are still caused by unknown sources.

Stupid. God wouldnt accept me. I sinned too much. Dumb.

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