May 16, 2007
Effects of Food Borne Illnesses Can be Permanent
The recent spat of contaminated foods such as spinach, peanut butter, and lettuce has given rise to watchdog groups as well as the FDA and the CDC to call for closer monitoring of our food supply. In spite of this, the rise of listeria, salmonella, and e.coli are on the rise. Once the initial symptoms of these bacterial infections wane, the problems may persist and cause permanent harm. Exposure to the enterohemmorrhagic E.coli can result in death. In addition to the most common symptoms of acute infection such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, fever, chills, malaise, nausea, and headache, more serious cases can progress to hemmorrhagic colitis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome. The long term effects of such infection can lead to such conditions as atherosclerosis, reactive arthritis, stroke, seizure, blindness, coma, pancreatitis, diabetes mellitus, pleural and pericardial effusions, cholelithiasis, colonic stricture, and cognitive impairment.
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