What to Know About Foodborne Illness

It’s something no one wants to experience, yet we hear about all too often. Foodborne illness comes in a variety of forms and stems from contamination or improper cooking.

Listeria, E. coli, salmonella, norovirus and Hepatitis A virus are among the common infections.

The type of foodborne illness a person may develop depends on when pathogens come into the picture.

“You're always hearing about recalls of romaine lettuce, ground beef, chicken or farmed products,” says gastroenterologist Matthew Sullivan, DO, with LVPG Gastroenterology. “There are certainly pathogens that can enter when the food is being processed at the farm or factory, leading to listeria or salmonella or those sorts of things.”

Then, there are foodborne illnesses that originate from people’s preparation or storage of food.

“Hepatitis A is the classic thing we may think of from an outbreak at a restaurant,” Dr. Sullivan says. “Or, if somebody who had norovirus is preparing a meal for someone, but they are still shedding the virus, then that gets passed on.”

“If there's foodborne illness related to bacteria-producing toxins, most people will complain about their upper-GI tract, so stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting,” says Alex Benjamin, MD, LVHN’s Chief Infection Control and Prevention Officer. “Other foodborne illnesses could be on the other end of the tract, prompting diarrhea. There may or may not be blood involved. You may or may not have fevers and cramps.”

These symptoms can lead to dehydration, which can prompt further issues. Children and older adults get dehydrated at a much faster rate.

“In the elderly, it can lead to falls, and people may not be thinking about what a grandparent just ate the night before that may be related to all these symptoms,” Dr. Benjamin says. “Sometimes, they just present as ‘out of it,’ confused, aggressive, withdrawn, or they stop talking.”

Whether you are able to keep down enough water or an electrolyte drink, even at a slow pace, is often a deciding factor in whether you need help from a medical professional, Dr. Benjamin says.

“If you're getting behind the eight ball with becoming dehydrated or even to the nutritional standpoint, that's where you can start to get into bigger issues.” Matthew Sullivan, DO, with LVH Gastroenterology

“What the emergency room will focus on is whether you are dehydrated, whether your electrolytes are OK, whether they can give you medication to control nausea and vomiting, so as this passes, you will get better,” Dr. Benjamin says.

Dr. Benjamin says it’s rare someone needs antibiotics for foodborne illness.

“Most of the time, as long as that toxin passes or the contaminated food gets out of your system, you're going to be OK for the most part. It often passes within a day or two,” Dr. Benjamin says.

The foodborne illness cases that can stick in people’s minds are those that lead to hospitalizations or death, though they are less common.

“There are some pathogens that can cause more severe disease,” Dr. Benjamin says. “There are cases of gastrointestinal illness can cause bloodstream infection.”

“If you're getting behind the eight ball with becoming dehydrated or even to the nutritional standpoint, that's where you can start to get into bigger issues, in terms of acute injury to the kidneys or other systemic problems that can snowball from the gastrointestinal symptoms,” Dr. Sullivan says.

Children, older adults, people with other medical conditions and people who take medications that suppress their immune systems can be at a higher risk for complications.

“Some of our patients who have conditions like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, who are on medications that modulate the immune system, it may make them more prone to not only picking up that foodborne illness, but then also limit their body's ability to fight that off by itself,” Dr. Sullivan says. “The other piece of that picture would be potentially that bacteria or viral infection can flare up underlying issues.”

“We don't have good numbers of foodborne illness,” Dr. Benjamin says. “What's tracked nationally is reports about clusters of infection related to a particular product. You'll hear about a cluster, maybe at a hospital, that gets reported to the local health department, like the county health department, and then other counties may say, ‘We have the same illness.’”

Multistate outbreaks coming from popular products spark national headlines, while limited outbreaks from uncooked meat or stale macaroni salad at community events often go undocumented.

“The more you're looking for something, the more you are likely to find it, with also the opposite being true,” Dr. Sullivan says. “If you're not necessarily looking for it, you're not going find it.”

Preventing foodborne illness is key.

“Make sure the meats you're grilling are fully cooked, we're not holding onto leftovers too long, we're putting food away and adhering to expiration dates and best-by dates,” Dr. Benjamin says.

It’s important to remember the basics, like washing your hands before preparing a meal. 

“Make sure that utensils or whatever you use with uncooked ground beef or chicken is different than what you use to prepare salad,” Dr. Sullivan says.

If you've become ill with vomiting and/or diarrhea and can't keep down liquids or food, it's important to seek care. Learn more about LVHN Emergency Care and ExpressCARE.