Symptoms
Possible symptoms include:
- Diarrhea, nausea, vomiting (vomiting diarrhea).
- Inflammation of the intestine (enteritis)
- Abdominal pain, headache
- Slight fever, feeling sick
The disease usually lasts about a week. Possible complications include dehydration and invasive infection with bacteria in the blood.
Causes
The cause of the disease is infection of the small intestine with rod-shaped bacteria of the genus , mainly with . Infection usually occurs through raw, undercooked, and undercooked foods, such as eggs, meat, and raw milk, or products made from them, such as chocolate mousse, tiramisu, ice cream, mayonnaise, and cured meats. Less frequently, infection is also possible from person to person or from animals to humans. The incubation period is short, ranging from hours to three days. Animals are the reservoir for the pathogen. In addition to farm animals, many reptiles kept as pets, such as turtles, carry salmonella.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is made on the basis of clinical signs, patient history, physical examination, and laboratory methods (stool examination, blood).
Drug treatment
Antibiotics are usually given only if the course is severe. Adequate fluid and electrolyte intake should be ensured ( oral rehydration solution). In addition, other antidiarrheal agents such as probiotics, activated charcoal, or tanning agents are available. Peristaltic inhibitors such as loperamide (Imodium, generic), on the other hand, are not recommended.
Prevention
- No vaccine is available yet
- Observe kitchen hygiene, e.g. be careful with meat juice
- Boil eggs all the way through or use fresh eggs
- Do not use raw milk
- Roast poultry meat and minced meat thoroughly
- Store food in a cool place
- Good hand hygiene, eg before cooking, after contact with animals.
