Raw food can cause diarrhea, fever and vomiting: what is salmonellosis, symptoms and cure

Salmonellosis, an infection of the digestive system, occurs with vomiting, diarrhea and pain, it is caused by food contaminated with bacteria of the genus Salmonella and it is transmitted via the fecal-oral route. Let’s see which foods to avoid and how to prevent infection. Here are the symptoms of the condition, how to prevent it and how to treat it.

Salmonellosis is an infection of the digestive system that occurs with specific symptoms and it is mainly caused by the ingestion of contaminated raw food. Let's see together everything there is to know about salmonellosis.

Salmonella vs salmonellosis

When we talk about salmonellosis we refer to that infection of the digestive system that presents itself with vomiting, pain, fever and diarrhea and it is caused by the bacteria of the genus Salmonella. Salmonella is therefore a genus of bacteria that stop glucose and the variants that affect our infection are Salmonella enteritidis and Salmonella typhimurium.

Salmonellosis, transmission

Salmonellosis is transmitted via the fecal-oral route, in practice ingesting food contaminated with faeces (of animals or humans) that, to see and smell, do not seem to show any defect. Usually the foods that contain the bacteria are mostly raw and of sheep origin (raw meat, eggs, milk, mayonnaise, unpasteurized juices). Considering the type of transmission (faecal-oral), all the products that come into contact with faeces are therefore particularly at risk, so vegetables and fruit are also included.

Symptoms and treatment of salmonellosis

Salmonellosis occurs between 6 and 72 hours after the ingestion of contaminated food and with symptoms such as gastric and abdominal pain, vomiting, cramps, fever, diarrhea or constipation that go on even for a week. Infection in general goes away after a few days and, in some cases, it is even asymptomatic. The advice is to not use treatments that block diarrhea because that is the main means of expelling germs, but it is important to continuously rehydrate and take lactic ferments.

Prevention is always better than cure

To avoid salmonellosis the advice is few, but fundamental:

always cook the food

change cutlery if you used them to cut raw meat

wash the eggs before breaking them (some faeces remains may be on the shell and, if they were contaminated, the bacteria could come into contact with the egg)

always wash your hands before eating

do not eat raw or undercooked eggs