MICROBIAL FOOD POISONING

摘要

Disease caused by the consumption of microbe infested foods is frequently referred to as Microbial Food Poisoning. Food gets contaminated either through microbial infection or intoxication. Diseases owing to microbial infection is caused by consumption of food or liquids contaminated with bacteria/or ingestion of sufficient number of microorganisms of public health significance, while diseases due to Intoxications result when food or beverages already contaminated with a toxin produced by the micro organism (pre-formed toxin) are consumed. Staphylococcal poisoning and botulism are examples of Intoxications. In food borne infections, the food merely act as a carrier for the causative organisms in which multiplication of bacteria take place, the ingested viable bacteria continue to grow within the host body to produce the typical symptoms (eg. Salmonellosis and Listeriosis). Food -borne diseases pose quite often critical conditions to the patient, initially presenting as gastro enteritis, the first symptoms of which normally arise within a few hours or few days of consumption of food containing pathogenic microorganisms and/or their products (toxins). Among the vast majority of reported cases of food poisoning are due to bacterial infections / intoxications; in India the most common causes are Salmonella Spp., Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus and Yersinia.