What are the symptoms of food poisoning?

We often hear people talk about food poisoning, but we don’t know much about the symptoms of food poisoning. In fact, it is very important to understand the symptoms of food poisoning. When family members or colleagues suffer from food poisoning, they can deal with it in time. Otherwise, they will be helpless and it may affect the patient's life. Different types of food poisoning can present in different ways.

If the beans you eat are not cooked enough, it can easily lead to food poisoning. Therefore, understanding the symptoms of food poisoning and learning how to provide timely rescue will enable patients to receive better treatment. Severe food poisoning can lead to death. Therefore, if you find food poisoning and cannot handle it yourself, rush to the hospital for emergency treatment.

There are for violent vomiting, diarrhoea on symptom on it is most common in food poisoner,at the same time with in upper abdomen pain. Food poisoner often will have dehydration symptoms due to vomiting and diarrhoea,such as dry mouth, sunken eye sockets, disappearance of skin elasticity, cold limbs, thin and weak pulse and low blood pressure,etc. which may finally lead to shock. Therefore, the patient must be replenished with water, and normal saline can be injected if conditions permit. If the symptoms are mild, let the patient rest in bed. If you only have stomach discomfort, drink plenty of warm water or diluted salt water, then put your hand into your throat to induce vomiting. If the poisoned person is found to have symptoms of shock (such as cold hands and feet, blue face, low blood pressure, etc.), he should lie down immediately, raise both lower limbs as high as possible and seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Chemical food poisoning Chemical food poisoning mainly refers to food poisoning caused by food contamination by some toxic metals, non-metals and their compounds, pesticides, nitrites and other chemical substances. The main causes of chemical food poisoning are accidental ingestion of toxic chemicals or ingestion of food contaminated by chemical substances.

The main characteristics of chemical food poisoning are : (1) Rapid onset of disease. The incubation period is relatively short, ranging from a few minutes to a few hours, but in a few cases it may exceed a day. (2) The degree of poisoning is serious, the course of the disease is longer than that of bacterial toxin poisoning, and the morbidity and mortality rates are higher. (3) There is no obvious seasonality or regionality, and the poisoning food is non-specific. It is mostly caused by accidental ingestion or ingestion of food contaminated by chemical substances, and its occurrence is relatively accidental.

Bacterial food poisoning Bacterial food poisoning is food poisoning caused by people eating food containing large amounts of live bacteria or bacterial toxins. It is the most common type of food poisoning. The main characteristics of this type of food poisoning are: (a) It is usually seasonal and often occurs in hot seasons, usually most frequently from May to October. On the one hand, the higher temperature creates favorable conditions for bacterial reproduction; on the other hand, the human body's defense capabilities are reduced and susceptibility increases during this period, so bacterial food poisoning often occurs. (2) Foods that cause bacterial food poisoning are mainly animal foods, such as meat, fish, milk and eggs; a few are plant foods, such as leftover rice, glutinous rice cakes, fermented noodles, etc. (3) People with reduced resistance, such as the sick, the elderly and children, are prone to bacterial food poisoning, with a higher incidence rate and more severe acute gastrointestinal inflammation. However, the mortality rate of this type of food poisoning is low and the recovery is good.

Symptoms and first aid of food poisoning ① Any acute toxic disease caused by eating food contaminated by bacteria (such as Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Escherichia coli, Botulinum toxin, etc.) and their toxins, eating food containing toxic chemicals, or food itself containing natural toxins (such as puffer fish, poisonous mushrooms, sprouted potatoes, etc.) is called food poisoning. Food poisoning often occurs in summer and autumn when the temperature is higher. It can occur individually or in groups (such as in cafeterias and banquets). ②There are violent vomiting and diarrhoea on symptom of food poisoner,at the same time with pain in upper abdomen. Food poisoner often will have dehydration symptoms due to vomiting and diarrhoea,such as dry mouth, sunken eye sockets, disappearance of skin elasticity, cold limbs, thin and weak pulse and low blood pressure,etc. which may finally lead to shock. Therefore, the patient must be replenished with water, and normal saline can be injected if conditions permit. If the symptoms are mild, let the patient rest in bed. If you only have stomach discomfort, drink plenty of warm water or diluted salt water, then put your hand into your throat to induce vomiting. If the poisoned person is found to have symptoms of shock (such as cold hands and feet, blue face, low blood pressure, etc.), he should lie down immediately, raise both lower limbs as high as possible and seek medical treatment as soon as possible. ③People who eat puffer fish will experience numbness in the tongue or hands and feet 2 to 3 hours after eating. The sooner you induce vomiting, the better the effect will be, and you should rush to the hospital for emergency treatment. If delayed for more than 4 hours, respiratory paralysis will occur and death will occur. In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, poisonous mushroom poisoning may also cause convulsions, drooling, hallucinations, and trembling hands. In first aid, induce vomiting first, then send to hospital. ④If it is a collective poisoning, the rescue work must be organized. The health and quarantine department should also be notified promptly for quarantine. It is best to save leftover food to facilitate diagnosis, treatment or quarantine.

Home first aid for food poisoning Food poisoning is easy to occur in the midsummer. If someone at home suffers from food poisoning such as vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain, do not panic. Calmly analyze the cause of the illness and take the following three emergency measures in a timely manner based on the food that caused the poisoning and how long ago it was consumed: Induce vomiting. If the food is eaten within one to two hours, vomiting can be induced. Immediately take 20 grams of salt, add 200 milliliters of boiling water, and drink it all at once after cooling. If you don't vomit, you can drink a few more times to quickly induce vomiting. You can also use 100 grams of fresh ginger, mash it, extract the juice and drink it with 200 milliliters of warm water. If you eat spoiled meat, you can take ten drops of water to promote rapid vomiting. Some patients may also use chopsticks, fingers or goose feathers to irritate the throat and induce vomiting. catharsis. If the patient has eaten the poisoned food for more than two hours and is still in good spirits, he can take some laxatives to help the poisoned food be excreted from the body as soon as possible. Generally, 30 grams of rhubarb is used and decocted at one time. Elderly patients can choose 20 grams of Yuanming powder and take it with boiled water to relieve laxative effects. For the elderly who are in good physical condition, 15 grams of senna leaves can be decocted and taken at one time, or taken with boiled water, which can also achieve the purpose of catharsis. Detoxification. If the food poisoning is caused by eating spoiled fish, shrimp, crab, etc., you can take 100 ml of vinegar, add 200 ml of water, dilute it and take it all at once. In addition, you can also use 30 grams of perilla and 10 grams of raw licorice to decoct and take it at a time. If you accidentally ingest spoiled drinks or preservatives, the best first aid method is to feed them with fresh milk or other protein-containing drinks. If the patient's symptoms do not improve after the above first aid, or if the poisoning is severe, he or she should be sent to the hospital for treatment as soon as possible. During the treatment, the patient should be given good care, kept as quiet as possible, avoid mental stress, pay attention to rest, prevent cold, and at the same time supplement with sufficient light salt water. The key to controlling food poisoning lies in prevention, maintaining good food hygiene, and preventing "disease from the mouth". Food poisoning from poisonous animals and plants: Some animals and plants contain certain naturally toxic ingredients. Often, because their appearance is similar to that of non-toxic species, they are confused and eaten by mistake; or improper eating methods or improper food storage can form toxic substances that cause poisoning after consumption.

The main characteristics of this type of food poisoning are: (1) Seasonality and regionality are obvious, which is related to the distribution, growth and maturity, picking and catching, and eating habits of poisonous animals and plants. (2) It occurs sporadically and is highly accidental. (3) The incubation period is relatively short, ranging from tens of minutes to more than ten hours. A few last more than a day. (iv) The morbidity and mortality rates are high, but vary depending on the species of poisonous animals and plants. Food in the refrigerator can also cause poisoning. The refrigerator is not a safe for preserving and storing food. Many diseases are caused by eating stale or contaminated food in the refrigerator. When people store food in the refrigerator, they often mix raw and cooked food, which causes food contamination or spoilage, resulting in food re-contamination. The temperature in the refrigerator's refrigerator compartment is generally around 0-5℃, which has a significant inhibitory effect on the reproduction of most bacteria. However, some psychrophilic bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, and Staphylococcus aureus, are still very active. Their massive reproduction will naturally cause food to spoil. Therefore, after eating such food, systemic symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and dizziness may occur. This is what people don’t know about: “Refrigerator food poisoning.” It is not difficult to prevent and treat "refrigerator food poisoning". All you need to do is to do the following: (1) Families can consider using a -18°C low-temperature freezer, which is effective in preserving and storing household food and reducing food re-contamination. (2) Cooked food should not be kept in the refrigerator for too long (it must be heated before consumption). Generally speaking, bacteria are resistant to cold but not heat and will die quickly at high temperatures. (3) When using the refrigerator, the interior of the refrigerator must be kept clean and hygienic for a long time, raw and cooked food must be kept separate, and the storage time should not be too long.

Regarding the symptoms of food poisoning, experts introduced the symptoms of various types of food poisoning. Because different foods will show different symptoms of poisoning. The symptoms of bacterial food poisoning are different from those of chemical food poisoning. By studying the phenomenon of food poisoning, we can clearly understand which symptoms belong to food poisoning symptoms, which also helps patients to receive early treatment.