Food Poisoning or Stomach Virus? The Telltale Symptoms to Look For

The terms food poisoning, stomach bug, stomach flu, and stomach virus are often used interchangeably, but they’re not the same. A stomach bug or stomach flu is a sickness caused by a virus (the medical term for this condition is viral gastroenteritis). The virus causes an inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach and intestines). On the other hand, food poisoning occurs after eating contaminated food or spoiled food, caused by foodborne germs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food poisoning affects some 48 million Americans each year, and it is more common than viral illnesses. 

Please continue reading to learn more about the telltale signs that can help you determine whether you’re dealing with a viral infection or food poisoning.

You should suspect food poisoning if the food looks, tastes, or smells bad. Germs that cause food spoilage often cause food to become slimy or mushy in appearance, develop unpleasant odors, and taste sour or “off. ”

How do you tell if you have a stomach bug or something else?

Food poisoning and viral gastroenteritis cause many of the same symptoms. Common food poisoning symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea are also symptoms of stomach flu. So, the truth is that you may never know if you have a stomach virus or food poisoning. However, some clues can help you figure it out (more about this later). 

What are the obvious symptoms of having food poisoning?

The most common food poisoning symptoms include abdominal pain or cramping, diarrhea, and vomiting. Other symptoms of food poisoning can include thirst, headache, low-grade fever, chills, sweating, tiredness, and muscle aches. People with severe symptoms may notice bloody stools or vomit, severe abdominal cramps, and even fainting or loss of consciousness.

What are the symptoms of a stomach bug?

Viral gastroenteritis or stomach bug symptoms are similar symptoms to food poisoning. The symptoms typically include nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhea, and stomach cramps. You can also develop symptoms such as thirst, dry mouth, lightheadedness, tiredness, fever, muscle aches, joint pain, and urinating less than usual.

What is the difference between food poisoning and stomach bug?

Here are some of the critical differences between stomach flu and food poisoning.

Cause

• Viral gastroenteritis is caused by viruses such as norovirus, rotavirus, and other viruses.
   
• Food poisoning is caused by foodborne germs, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Some of the most common germs that cause foodborne illnesses in the U.S. are norovirus, salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus (Staph).

Onset

• Symptoms of stomach flu develop 24-48 hours after exposure to the virus.
   
• Symptoms of food poisoning develop within a few hours (2-6 hours after eating contaminated food).

Diagnosis

• Doctors usually diagnose a stomach virus based on your symptoms. There is a rapid stool test that can detect norovirus and rotavirus, but it is not available at most health clinics.
• Food poisoning is diagnosed based on your history and symptoms. A stool test can help to identify bacterial or parasitic infections.

Treatment

• You can treat a stomach bug at home by replacing fluids and electrolytes to prevent dehydration and eating bland foods that are easy to digest (a BRAT diet is recommended – bananas, applesauce, rice, and toast). Some over-the-counter medicines can help to relieve your symptoms.
   
• Treatment for food poisoning also consists of replacing fluids and electrolytes to stay hydrated and eating easy-to-digest foods. In severe cases, doctors may prescribe antibiotics for certain types of food poisoning. 

Transmission

• Viral gastroenteritis is highly contagious, and it spreads via the vomit or feces of an infected person through personal contact. For example, if someone is sick and has not washed their hands thoroughly, they might have the virus on their hands and can transmit it to you when you shake hands. It can also spread through contaminated food and drink or contaminated objects.
   
• Food poisoning occurs when you eat contaminated food or drink contaminated water or beverages.

Prevention

• You can prevent viral gastroenteritis by washing your hands thoroughly if you’re sick or have been around someone who is sick. There is a vaccine available against rotavirus. 
   
• You can prevent food poisoning by keeping your food preparation equipment and surfaces clean, refrigerating perishable foods, eating fully cooked meats and eggs, and discarding foods that appear to be spoiled.

How do I know if it’s stomach flu or food poisoning?

Both conditions cause gastrointestinal distress. However, if you have a fever, headache, body aches, and projectile vomiting, you may have a stomach bug or viral gastroenteritis. If you have bloody diarrhea, it could be food poisoning.

The circumstances surrounding your illness can offer clues. If you develop symptoms within a few hours of eating food that may have been spoiled or contaminated, you likely have food poisoning. 

If a family member or friend ate the same food and became sick, that’s another clue that points to food poisoning.

If you have eaten foods that are easily contaminated or spoiled, such as salad greens, undercooked eggs or meat, seafood, raw milk, or dairy products just before your symptoms worsen, it could be food poisoning. 

On the other hand, if you have been around someone who has a similar illness, it could be viral gastroenteritis. For example, if your child is sick and there’s a stomach bug going around your child’s school.

When to see a doctor?

Most people with a food-borne illness get better on their own in 2-5 days without medical treatment. You should see a doctor if:

• You have a high fever above 104F (40C).
• You’re not able to keep liquids down for more than 24 hours.
• You’ve been vomiting for more than 2 days.
• You have blood in your vomit or bowel movements.
• You have severe abdominal cramping or abdominal pain.
• Your symptoms have been going on for more than 7-10 days.
• You have signs of dehydration such as dry mouth, excessive thirst, dark yellow urine, less frequent urination, lightheadedness or dizziness, and severe weakness.

Keep in mind that while most forms of food poisoning aren’t serious, a type of food poisoning called botulism, which is caused by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, can be fatal. This bacterium produces toxins that affect the nervous system. Seek medical attention immediately if you have botulism symptoms such as blurred vision, double vision, drooping eyelids, slurred speech, or other neuromuscular symptoms.

References

1. https://www.ucihealth.org/blog/2016/01/stomach-flu-or-food-poisoning
2. https://ask. usda.gov/s/article/What-are-the-signs-of-food-spoilage#
3. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/foodborne-germs.html
4. https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/digestive-diseases/viral-gastroenteritis/symptoms-causes

Norovirus

Category: Infections and Parasites

Topic: Viral Infections

Noroviruses are a group of viruses that can cause gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines) with diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting. Common names used for gastroenteritis due to Norovirus are ‘gastric flu’ or ‘stomach flu’, ‘winter vomiting’ and ‘viral gastro’.

Noroviruses are found in the faeces or vomit of infected people. People can become infected with the virus in several ways, including:

• eating food or drinking liquids that are contaminated with Norovirus
• touching surfaces or objects contaminated with Norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth
• small airborne particles from projectile vomiting
• having direct contact with another person who is infected and showing symptoms (for example, when caring for someone with illness, or sharing foods or eating utensils with someone who is ill).

Anyone can become infected with these viruses. There are many different strains of Norovirus, which makes it difficult for a person’s body to develop long-lasting immunity.

Norovirus illness can recur throughout a person’s lifetime.

People working in day-care centres or nursing homes should pay special attention to children or residents who have Norovirus illness. This virus is very contagious and can spread rapidly throughout such environments.

Signs and Symptoms: 

Symptoms of Norovirus illness usually begin about 24 to 48 hours after ingestion of the virus, but they can appear as early as 12 hours after exposure.

The symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people also have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly and the infected person may feel very sick. The illness is usually brief, with symptoms lasting only about 1 or 2 days, but can last longer. In general, children experience more vomiting than adults.

Treatment: 

Currently, there is no antiviral medication that works against norovirus and there is no vaccine to prevent infection. Norovirus infection cannot be treated with antibiotics. This is because antibiotics work to fight bacteria and not viruses.

Norovirus illness is usually brief in healthy individuals. When people are ill with vomiting and diarrhoea, they should rest and drink plenty of fluids to prevent dehydration. Dehydration is the most serious health effect that can result from Norovirus infection, and it is a particular concern in young children, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.

Prevention: 

Noroviruses are very contagious and can spread easily from person to person. Both faeces and vomit are infectious. Particular care should be taken with young children in nappies who may have diarrhoea.

People infected with Norovirus are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill. If your job involves handling food or beverages or you are a childcare or health care worker you must not return to work until 48 hours after recovery (i.e. until 48 hours after you last vomited or 48 hours after your bowel motions return to normal), as this is generally regarded as the period when people are infectious.

The virus can be present in faeces at low levels for several weeks after recovery, so it is important for people to continue to use good handwashing and other hygienic practices.

People infected with Norovirus should not prepare food while they have symptoms and for 48 hours after they recover from their illness. Food that may have been contaminated by an ill person should be disposed of properly.

You can decrease your chance of coming in contact with noroviruses by following these preventive steps:

• frequently wash your hands, especially after toilet visits, changing nappies and before eating or preparing food
• carefully wash fruits and vegetables, and steam oysters before eating them
• flush or discard any vomit or faeces in the toilet and make sure that the surrounding area is kept clean
• use a detergent and warm water to wipe down the area where vomit was present so that no evidence of vomit is visible
• thoroughly clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces immediately after an episode of illness using detergent and water followed by a bleach-based household cleaner
• immediately remove and wash clothing or linens that may be contaminated with virus (use a hot cycle in the washing machine).

Health outcome: 

Anyone can become infected with these viruses. There are many different strains of Norovirus, which makes it difficult for a person’s body to develop long-lasting immunity. In addition, because of differences in genetic factors, some people are more likely to become infected and develop more severe illness than others.

Norovirus disease is usually not serious, although people may feel very sick and vomit many times a day. Most people get better within 1 or 2 days, and they have no long-term health effects related to their illness.

Sometimes people are unable to drink enough liquids to replace the liquids they lost because of vomiting and diarrhoea. These people can become dehydrated and may need special medical attention. This problem with dehydration is usually only seen among the very young, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems. There is no evidence to suggest that an infected person can become a long-term carrier of Norovirus.

Other resources: 

• Clean Up for Gastroenteritis Outbreak Prevention (PDF 716KB)

Help and assistance: 

For further information, please contact your local doctor, community health centre or nearest public health unit, or contact the Queensland Health information line 13HEALTH (13 432584).

If you are in an emergency situation, call 000

Child has diarrhea and vomiting: how to recognize an infection

Almost 800,000 cases of intestinal infections are registered in Russia every year, up to 80% of them in children: only influenza and SARS are more common. Vomiting, diarrhea, weakness and fever are the main signs. Often the symptoms are similar to food poisoning – we tell you how to understand that the child did not just “ate something wrong.”

What is it and how often does it happen

An intestinal infection is a disease that develops when viruses or bacteria enter the body and is manifested by diarrhea, vomiting, fever, weakness, and dehydration.

According to WHO data for 2018, rotavirus infection accounted for 60% of cases of severe diarrhea in children under 5 years of age, and most of them were under one year old. When the first symptoms appear in young children, it is necessary to seek medical help – so far in the world, especially in developing countries, up to 200 thousand children die from rotavirus infection every year.

How and when you can get infected

Sources of rotavirus infection can be a sick child or an asymptomatic carrier. The virus is excreted from the body with a stool and with dirty hands gets on household items, clothes and food.

Doctors often refer to rotavirus as the “dirty hand” disease.

A healthy child can introduce the virus into the body by first touching things, and then to the face, as well as by eating unwashed vegetables and fruits.

Outbreaks of rotavirus usually occur in winter, early spring or late autumn, because at low temperatures the viruses survive longer in the external environment. In summer, food poisoning occurs more often – the reason for them, as a rule, is bacterial contamination of food, and bacteria multiply better in the hot season.

What happens when a virus enters the body

With food or saliva – if a child licks dirty hands – rotavirus gets into the mouth, then into the stomach and intestines. There it penetrates into the cells of the surface layer lining the intestines from the inside and damages them. Unlike bacteria, viruses do not lead to pronounced inflammation of cells; they disrupt the functioning of the body’s enzyme systems to a greater extent.

Carbohydrates cease to be broken down and accumulate in the intestines – the balance of fluid, potassium and sodium in the body is disturbed. A lot of water, electrolytes, organic acids and carbon dioxide accumulate in the intestine, which should not be there normally. Because of them, vomiting and diarrhea begin and gas formation increases. At the age of up to 5 years, intestinal cells are not yet mature enough – rotavirus infects up to 2/3 of them, so children get sick more often and more severely than adults.

Most often, the first symptom is vomiting. It occurs simultaneously with diarrhea or precedes it and usually lasts 1-2 days. The stool is usually watery, frothy, yellow in color with a small amount of mucus. In infants, it can be up to 20 times a day. The duration of diarrhea is on average 3-7 days, but there are cases up to two weeks – usually in children under one year old. Sometimes the infection begins with a fever up to 38-39 ° C, symptoms of SARS – cough, runny nose, sore throat. Also, children can refuse food and literally fall off their feet.

What to do in order not to get sick

Frequent and thorough hand washing with soap is the prevention of any viral and bacterial infections.

• It is necessary to accustom the child to this from an early age: after the street and going to the toilet, before meals and just a few times a day.
• Parents should wash their own hands before touching or feeding a baby.
• It is important to wash vegetables and fruits before eating, observe the temperature regime when cooking, drink boiled or bottled water.

The greatest amount of the virus is excreted in the stool in the first 5 days of illness, so during this period you need to wash your hands more often and do wet cleaning at home.

Rotavirus vaccination

There are two vaccines – the Belgian “Rotarix” and the Russian “RotaTek”. Only RotaTech is registered in the Russian Federation. It contains the 5 most common strains. Vaccination against rotavirus infection is not included in the national vaccination schedule, but it can be done at the request of the parents. RotaTeq has strict age restrictions and intervals between revaccinations – be sure to consult your pediatrician.

“The effectiveness and safety of vaccines against rotavirus infection, while respecting the age limits, has been confirmed in many studies,” says Elena Kolganova, pediatrician at the Fantasy Children’s Clinic. – After receiving the third dose of the vaccine, the number of hospitalizations decreased by 100%, and visits to the clinic – by 96%. Rotavirus, unlike influenza, rarely mutates, and therefore vaccination does not need to be done every year – immunity lasts up to three years.

How to help a child

Pediatrician and infectious disease specialist at the GMS clinic Daria Zakharova recalls that infection in different children can proceed in different ways: for someone – in the form of mild malaise, loss of appetite with slight discomfort in the abdomen and single loose stools, for another – with fever, repeated vomiting and severe diarrhea.

“The actions of parents largely depend on the severity and age: where to turn for help. If the child is sick every hour, and he complains of severe pain in the abdomen, then you need to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where they will determine the cause of the pain. In all other cases, you need to call a doctor,” emphasizes Daria Zakharova.

In children older than five years, the infection is usually milder, so you can help them on your own.

“You need to start with drinking plenty of fluids to make up for the lack of fluid – what the child loses with vomiting and diarrhea,” says Elena Kolganova. There are special formulas for calculating, but usually 50-100 ml of water per kg of body weight per day is required, i.e. if a child weighs 30 kg, then with a rotavirus infection, he will need from 1.5 to 3 liters of fluid per day. It is better to use a special pharmacy solution: for children, it should contain a minimum of salt and sugar. It is necessary to water the child often and a little bit – 10-15 times an hour for 2-3 sips.

What threatens rotavirus without treatment

From diarrhea and vomiting, the body loses a lot of water along with sodium, potassium, magnesium and other electrolytes. This leads to disruption of the lungs – the child begins to breathe often and shallowly, the heart and blood vessels – the heartbeat quickens, blood pressure decreases, and the brain – dizziness and headache, weakness appear.

In infants, rotavirus infection is most dangerous because large amounts of fluid and electrolyte loss can lead to convulsions or loss of consciousness. It is very important to immediately call an ambulance at the first signs of an intestinal infection in infants.

How to help the body recover

“There used to be an opinion that dairy products should not be consumed with rotavirus infection,” says Elena Kolganova. – Now scientists have revised their opinion on this matter: if a child is breast-fed or formula-fed, then nothing needs to be changed. For adult children, it is advisable to remove fresh fruits and vegetables, as they increase peristalsis and fermentation processes in the intestines.

If the child has a temperature above 38.5 ºС, you can give him antipyretics, and in case of severe pain – antispasmodics. You should not give painkillers – this will mask the symptoms and it will be difficult for the doctor to make a diagnosis. You can’t wash the child’s stomach – this will increase vomiting and lead to extreme dehydration – loss of consciousness, convulsions.

“Treatment of uncomplicated rotavirus infection is symptomatic: the main thing is drinking plenty of fluids. Vomiting and loose stools usually go away on their own. However, taking probiotics can speed up the recovery process, their administration is safe and quite effective,” says Daria Zakharova.

A disease is always easier to prevent than to cure – follow the rules of personal hygiene and teach children to do this, wash fruits and vegetables and do not drink tap water.

The WHO warned about the “toilet” symptoms of the “omicron” strain of COVID-19 – Gazeta.ru

The WHO warned about the “toilet” symptoms of the “omicron” strain of COVID-19 – Gazeta.Ru | News

January 12, 2022, 22:24

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Symptoms of infection with a new “omicron” strain of coronavirus can be shortness of breath, fatigue, as well as diarrhea or vomiting. This was told by experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), reports “Medic Forum” .

The organization’s specialists noted that the virus variant discovered in November last year is becoming the dominant strain worldwide.

Doctors explained that symptoms of infection can include difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, fatigue, pain in the muscles or body, as well as headache or sore throat, nasal congestion. In addition, with the Omicron strain, some patients complain of diarrhea or vomiting.

All of these signs are usually accompanied by high fever, persistent cough, and loss or alteration of smell or taste.

Earlier, the chief neurologist of the Pirogov National Medical and Surgical Center Oleg Vinogradov told that stroke is possible in those who have had COVID-19 in the first weeks after discharge. According to research data he cited, the overall rate of strokes after all types of coronavirus, including mild and asymptomatic, is about 1.