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ULY CLINIC
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ULY CLINIC
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20 Oktoba 2026, 15:09:26
Food poisoning management
Food poisoning management
Food poisoning, also called foodborne illness, is illness caused by eating contaminated food. Infectious organisms — including bacteria, viruses, and parasites — or their toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning. The incubation period for infections involving the small and large intestine is typically 1–3 days.
Clinical features
Cyanosis
Heart failure
Pathophysiology and classification
Food poisoning can be classified according to the site of intestinal involvement.
Large intestine infections
Infections of the large intestine or colon can cause bloody, mucousy diarrhea associated with crampy abdominal pain.
Campylobacter spp. is a common cause of food-borne disease
Shigella spp. contaminate food and water and cause dysentery (severe diarrhea often containing mucus and blood)
Salmonella spp. infections often occur due to poorly cooked or poorly handled chicken and eggs. In immunocompromised patients, infection may become systemic and life-threatening
Vibrio parahaemolyticus can contaminate saltwater shellfish and cause watery diarrhea
Small intestine infections
Diarrhea due to small bowel infection tends not to be bloody, but infections may affect both small and large intestines.
Escherichia coli (enterotoxigenic) is the most common cause of traveler’s diarrhea and typically causes watery diarrhea without fever or blood
Vibrio cholerae causes profuse “rice-water” diarrhea due to contaminated drinking water
Viruses such as Norwalk virus, rotavirus, and adenovirus may cause diarrhea with fever, chills, headache, and vomiting
Botulism (Clostridium botulinum toxin) may present with vomiting, mild diarrhea, numbness, weakness, and progressive paralysis
Pharmacological treatment
Indication | Management |
Mild–moderate dehydration (adults and children) | A: Oral rehydration salts (ORS) after each loose stool, according to dehydration status |
Severe dehydration or unable to drink | A: Sodium chloride 0.9% OR Ringer's lactate IV, according to dehydration and ongoing losses (children: paediatric dehydration protocols) |
Non-bloody diarrhoea, adults only, no invasive infection | D: Bismuth subsalicylate 524 mg PO every 30–60 minutes as needed (maximum 8 doses/24 hours), OR 1,048 mg every hour (maximum 4 doses/24 hours); not more than 2 days |
Nausea and vomiting | D: Ondansetron 4–8 mg PO/IV every 8 hours as needed, OR B: metoclopramide 10 mg PO/IV every 8 hours as needed |
Suspected cholera | A: Doxycycline 300 mg PO once, OR B: azithromycin 1 g PO once |
Severe shigellosis | A: Ciprofloxacin 500 mg PO every 12 hours for 3 days |
Invasive salmonella (high-risk patients) | B: Ceftriaxone 1–2 g IV once daily for 7–14 days, OR A: ciprofloxacin 500 mg PO every 12 hours for 5–7 days |
Suspected giardiasis or other protozoa | A: Metronidazole 400–500 mg PO every 8 hours for 5–7 days |