What is it?
Food poisoning in children can be mild or very serious. Every year, children die from severe food poisoning caused by salmonella and other pathogens. One of the main dangers is dehydration, so a child with food poisoning should be given plenty of water or diluted fruit juices to drink. Hospital admission for intravenous fluids may be necessary in severe cases.
What is the cause?
Food poisoning occurs either by eating contaminated food or by catching it from another person. Most organisms that carry it can easily be spread from one person to another through the faecal-oral route, so good hygiene and hand washing are vital to avoid it.
Common organism sources: Salmonella Mainly spread via contaminated poultry and eggs, salmonella can cause diarrhoea, fever and/or abdominal cramps. Infections last five to seven days and antibiotics may be needed.
Campylobacter This bacterium is mainly transmitted by faecal contamination of meat and causes diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain, cramp and fever. The illness lasts about a week. Most people will recover without any treatment.
E coli serotype 0157:H7 causes bloody diarrhoea, fever, vomiting and sometimes acute kidney failure, which can be fatal in small children. It is usually transmitted through contaminated beef. It is destroyed by cooking foods so that all parts reach 70xC or higher.
Listeria monocytogenes is carried in soft cheese and meat products that are stored for a long time. It can cause septicaemia and meningitis in infants.
Botulism is a rare but serious form of food poisoning. Since spores of the bacterium can be found in honey, children under one year should not be given honey.
Svrv (small round structured virus) is a common cause of vomiting and diarrhoea. It has an incubation period of 24 to 48 hours. The person is infectious for 48 hours after symptoms clear.
