Foodborne illness.
While few patients with foodborne illness present with life-threatening symptoms, there are a number of foodborne infectious diseases and toxins that the emergency physician or other health care provider must consider in the evaluation of these patients. Given the frequency of international travel, as well as the risk associated with recurrent outbreaks of foodborne illness from commercial food sources, it is important to recognize various syndromes of foodborne illness, including those which may require specific evaluation and management strategies. This article reviews a number of the most common causes of foodborne illness, as well as several less common pathogens with the potential for causing significant morbidity and mortality if not promptly identified and treated.
Pigott
David C
DC
Department of Emergency Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, 619 South 19th Street, JTN 266, Birmingham, AL 35249-7013, USA. dpigott@uabmc.edu
D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D005516:Food Microbiology; D016266:Food Parasitology; D005517:Foodborne Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology / Q000469:parasitology; D006801:Humans; D014195:Travel