Listeria
While listeriosis, the disease caused by the bacteria Listeria, is less common than some other kinds of food-borne illness and the numbers of people affected are much smaller overall, it's by far the most deadly.
A doctor may be able to diagnose the type of food poisoning based on your symptoms. In severe cases, blood tests, stool tests, and tests on food that you've eaten may be conducted to determine what's responsible for the food poisoning.
How long does food poisoning last? Most of the time, food poisoning passes within 12 to 48 hours. That's how long it takes for a healthy body to purge the infection. It may last longer if you have a weakened immune system, or if you have a parasite that needs to be treated with antibiotics.
Staph food poisoning is characterized by a sudden start of nausea, vomiting, and stomach cramps. Most people also have diarrhea. Symptoms usually develop within 30 minutes to 8 hours after eating or drinking an item containing Staph toxin, and last no longer than 1 day. Severe illness is rare.
In some cases, adults can take over-the-counter medicines such as loperamide link (Imodium) and bismuth subsalicylate link (Pepto-Bismol, Kaopectate) to treat diarrhea caused by food poisoning.
Onset of symptoms
The stomach flu typically has about a 24 to 48 hour incubation period in your system and then starts causing symptoms. In contrast, food poisoning comes on quickly — typically about two to six hours after you've eaten spoiled food.
Signs and symptoms may start within hours after eating the contaminated food, or they may begin days or even weeks later. Sickness caused by food poisoning generally lasts from a few hours to several days.
Stop eating and drinking for a few hours. Try sucking on ice chips or taking small sips of water. You might also try drinking clear soda, clear broth or noncaffeinated sports drinks. You might also try oral rehydration solutions if you have severe dehydration symptoms or diarrhea.
Your symptoms can be present in a wide variety of medical conditions, including syncope, food poisoning, and a drug overdose. If your symptoms are severe, you may need to call 911 or go to the emergency room. Otherwise, keep track of your symptoms.
Depending on the cause, viral gastroenteritis symptoms may appear within 1-3 days after you're infected and can range from mild to severe. Symptoms usually last just a day or two, but occasionally they may last up to 14 days.
The intestinal wall is designed to absorb nutrients and water from food. Bacterial toxins can cause pores to open in the wall, allowing water and other molecules to flood in. The excess fluid and electrolytes in the gut lead to watery diarrhoea, which has a beneficial role of flushing out the bacteria and their toxins.
In most cases of food poisoning, the food is contaminated by bacteria, such as salmonella or Escherichia coli (E. coli), or a virus, such as the norovirus.
Try foods such as bananas, rice, applesauce, dry toast, soda crackers (these foods are called BRAT diet). For 24-48 hours after the last episode of vomiting, avoid foods that can irritate or may be difficult to digest such alcohol, caffeine, fats/oils, spicy food, milk or cheese.
Diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, and stomach ache are the most common symptoms. Fever (usually low-grade), headache, and body aches are also reported. “Stomach Flu” is a common misnomer for norovirus or other enteric illness, which is not related to influenza virus. Norovirus is not spread through airborne transmission.
The symptoms vary with the infected person: Higher-risk people other than pregnant women: Symptoms can include fever, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. Pregnant women: Pregnant women typically experience only fever, and other non-specific symptoms like chills and headache.
If diarrhea lasts more than 2 days it may mean you have a more serious problem. Diarrhea may be either: Short-term (acute). Diarrhea that lasts 1 or 2 days and goes away.
In serious cases, food poisoning can lead to life-threatening dehydration and organ damage. Seek emergency medical care or call 911 if you see these signs of food poisoning: Change or loss of consciousness. Confusion.
Food poisoning usually resolves on its own in 1-2 days, while the stomach flu can last 1-3 days (although sometimes longer). It's important you know what is causing your symptoms so you can properly treat your illness.
Most of the time, food poisoning is an illness of your stomach and intestines.
A large number of bacteria, viruses, and parasites can cause food poisoning. If you consume food products that contain these germs, you could become seriously ill and this infection can trigger sepsis. Sometimes incorrectly called blood poisoning, sepsis is the body's life-threatening response to infection.