Nutritional intoxication is considered to be a condition arising from the ingestion of toxic substances, such as inedible fungi or berries. A similar condition is accompanied by hyperthermia symptoms and a nausea-vomiting syndrome, diarrhea and weakness.
A similar symptom complex is also observed with digestive toxic infections. How can we distinguish these states?
What is GI infectious disease?
Infectious lesions of the intestine are caused by the penetration into the body of various microorganisms, pathogens. To such basic pathologies include paratyphoid or typhoid fever, rotavirus infectious lesions and dysentery, as well as salmonellosis, escherichiosis, etc.
A characteristic sign closely connecting these pathologies is the acute inflammation of any part of the gastrointestinal tract due to infection with an infectious agent.
The concept of food inoculation?
Food poisoning is termed a short-term acute disease, which develops against the background of defeat by opportunistic microorganisms, or toxic products of their vital activity.
Usually their penetration occurs when eating overdue or spoiled due to improper storage of products.
Normally a small number of such organisms do not harm a person, but if their population increases, they provoke the development of food poisoning.
Food poisoning also occurs when using inedible mushrooms or berries, with violations of sanitation rules such as dirty hands, unwashed or not enough washed foods, food from unwashed dishes, etc.
How are these conditions similar?
Food infection is simply enough to be confused with intoxication, as these diseases have a lot in common. Than these pathological conditions are similar.
- Can be transmitted through food. To develop the disease, it is enough to eat contaminated, substandard or spoiled food.
- The lesion is localized in the digestive tract , and thickets or small intestinal structures or stomach may be involved in the pathological process. Bacterial or toxic pathogens after penetration into the stomach provoke local inflammatory lesions that cause gastroenteritis.
- Clinical manifestations. For both pathological varieties, symptoms such as a nausea-vomiting reaction, diarrhea, increased gas formation by pronounced dehydration are typical. The last symptom is due to severe vomiting and diarrhea, which causes a huge fluid loss.
- Development of pathology always follows one cyclic scenario of - first a certain period of incubation takes place, then the onset of pathology begins, and then a recovery phase comes to replace it.
So, there is a lot in common between intestinal infections and poisonings, but they also have significant differences.
How do foodborne infections differ from food poisoning?
Sometimes it is sometimes difficult for a specialist to understand the nature of the pathology. In this case, there are many diagnostic techniques that allow you to accurately determine the diagnosis, for example, laboratory studies and bapsosevy.
But at home, such studies can not be carried out, so it will be useful to know some of the distinctive features of each pathological process.
- With food intoxication, the lesion usually affects the upper locations of the digestive tract , which includes the initial small intestine and stomach. If the patient is concerned about intestinal infection, the lesions are localized mainly in the thick and small intestine.
- For intestinal infectious lesions, a long incubation period is characteristic. This is the length of time during which the causative agent only grows in the human gastrointestinal tract, and there are no signs of the disease yet. In viral or bacterial infections, incubation is on the order of 7-14 days. In the case of poisoning, signs appear only a few hours after the patient ate low-quality food.
- Hyperthermia also has a different character. Infections with temperature indicators can reach a 40-degree mark, and the temperature rises by 2-3 days. When food intoxication, hyperthermia is negligible( 37-39 ° C), occurs from the first days of pathology and gradually decreases to its end.
- Food poisoning occurs against the background of the activity of bacteria , the body reacts to the presence of toxic products of bacterial life, signs appear very quickly. Usually such situations arise after an unsuccessful lunch in a street cafe or the use of a cheburek in a train station.
- The duration of these diseases differs. Food infections often last more than 10 days, and simple poisonings can last a day or two, and then a quick recovery comes.
If there is every reason to believe that a patient has an acute infection or severe intoxication, then urgent hospitalization in a hospital hospital of an infectious profile is necessary.
Difference from rotavirus
Rotavirus refers to microorganisms that, when infiltrated, provoke the development of an infectious affection of the digestive tract.
Maximum activity of rotavirus is observed in the autumn-winter season.
As a result of rotavirus damage, rotavirus gastroenteritis or infection develops in the patient's body. The parasite is rapidly developing and multiplying, disrupting GIT activity and rapidly leading to dehydration, which is especially dangerous for patients of childhood.
Infection occurs when in contact with a rotavirus carrier or an infected person. In the body, the causative agent penetrates through the mouth with drinks or food. Rotavirus from the first day of the defeat begins to stand out together with the calves.
But in case of poisoning, gastrointestinal lesions occur under the influence of using poor-quality products, which do not require heat treatment before consumption, for example, sausage, semi-finished products, various cheeses or smoked products.
When rotavirus symptoms are reduced to such manifestations:
- Sensation of general weakness in the body;
- Epigastric pain and vomiting;
- Hyperthermia, which occurs for several days;
- Lack of desire to eat, even with a pronounced prolonged starvation;
- Painful sensation if swallowed;
- On the surface of the tongue there is a pronounced plaque of white color;
- There is a constant rumbling in the patient's stomach;
- Redness of the conjunctiva and mucous throat;
- The patient is worried about a slight cough, the nose can pawn.
With food intoxication, most of these symptoms are absent. Patients usually complain of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting symptoms, diarrhea, and sometimes fever. Mialgias and headaches may appear, chills worry, with severe vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration develops rapidly.
In addition, intoxication is characterized by rapid development and is associated with eating food, while rotavirus can not be associated with products.
Also for rotavirus infection, in contrast to poisoning, seasonality is typical, frequent defeat of patients of childhood, ARVI symptoms are present. Also, if a rotavirus disease is affected by one member of the family, an early illness is seen and the rest of the household. When there is no such epidemic poisoning.
Therapeutic measures vary considerably. In different cases, the spectrum of medications taken is individual. Therefore, independent treatment can aggravate the situation. It is better to entrust treatment to a specialist.
Video about the signs of food poisoning and acute intestinal infections: