From Salmonella to Listeria .. How long does it take to develop symptoms of food poisoning?

The symptoms of diseases caused by eating contaminated food take between six hours and 70 days, and despite health awareness, the number of people treated for Listeria is on the rise, according to a report in the Spanish newspaper El Pais by Veronica Palomo.

Microbiologist Sylvia Herrera, a microbiologist at the National Center for Microbiology, said people 's interaction with food poisoning mainly depended on the infectious dose of bacteria infested by certain foods and the type of food consumed. Some people are more likely than others to be poisoned.

"Infants and children are among the most vulnerable to food poisoning because their immune systems are not strong and unable to cope with bacteria," says Ana Fuertes, a food safety expert at Biomero in the microbiological diagnostic branch in Iberia.

Pregnant women are also particularly vulnerable to food-borne diseases. Although the symptoms of poisoning do not often appear in the mother, the transmission of bacteria to the placenta can affect the health of the fetus and the newborn infant.

Fuertes confirmed that people with chronic diseases who are forced to take immunosuppressants, and people over 65 years of age, are the most vulnerable to food poisoning, given their weak immune system.

The deterioration of the senses in the elderly, especially the sense of smell and taste makes them unable to identify inedible foods.

Salmonella from 6 to 72 hours
The effect of these bacteria is rapid, and the incubation period of the infection varies from 6 to 72 hours, although the average is usually between 12 and 36 hours.

Salmonella infection symptoms are usually in the form of diarrhea accompanied by fever, nausea, vomiting, headache and muscle pain. Healthy people can recover within three to seven days.

The author said that food poisoning in this case can develop into blood poisoning for people with weakened immune system. The duration of fever does not exceed 48 hours, while in some cases diarrhea may persist for up to seven days. Salmonella infection can be critical to hospitalization, especially for the elderly and children.

Campylobacter from two to five days
Campylobacter is the bacterium that causes gastroenteritis worldwide, and is one of four major diarrheal diseases, according to the World Health Organization.

The incubation period for Campylobacter bacteria ranges from 1 to 10 days, and the infection usually lasts from two to five days.

The majority of cases of this type of bacteria occur during the summer for adults who are healthy, although the infection lacks clear symptoms.

Diarrhea is usually a symptom of these bacteria, if any. Stools often contain blood, abdominal pain, discomfort, fever, nausea and vomiting.

"The problem again is that people with weakened immune systems have this type of bacteria, because it sometimes spreads in the bloodstream and can cause serious infections, putting a person's life at risk," said food safety expert Anna Fuertes.

The bacterium may also cause several other diseases, such as hepatitis, pancreatitis and miscarriage, Fuertes said.

Post-infection complications include reactive arthritis, a painful inflammation of the joints that can last for several months, and neurological disorders such as Guillain-Barré syndrome, a form of paralysis that can cause severe respiratory and neurological disorders.

E. coli from 10 hours to 8 days
The author showed that Escherichia coli is a type of bacteria found in the gut of warm-blooded organisms, that is, it lives in the human digestive system. The strains of these bacteria are harmless, but some are ferocious and can lead to serious food poisoning.

The strains of these bacteria are also classified according to the virulence factors they acquire, and have different characteristics in the incubation period and the symptoms they produce.

For example, the E. coli hemorrhagic Escherichia coli strain is one of the most commonly associated groups of food toxins in Spain. This type of E. coli is usually associated with the consumption of raw meat, unpasteurized milk and contaminated vegetables.

The author explained that the incubation period of Escherichia coli enterocolitica ranges from one to eight days. The most common symptoms of this type of bacteria are bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain, short-term fever and vomiting.

Listeria from 3 to 70 days
The incubation period leading to listeriosis is very wide, ranging from 3 to 70 days, with an average of three weeks. Listeriosis can also be an infectious gastroenteritis or an infection with a high prevalence.

"Gastroenteritis is non-pervasive and occurs in people with strong immunity after high doses of bacteria, a condition where the incubation period is usually short, as is the case with other foodborne diseases," Herrera said. For people with weakened immunity.

The author shows that the symptoms of Listeria appear in healthy adults. In some cases these symptoms are similar to symptoms of mild flu such as fatigue and muscle pain or occur in the form of infectious inflammation. But the symptoms of these bacteria automatically disappear through the bloodstream or other areas of the body.

"A pregnant woman with this type of bacteria can cause spontaneous abortion, fetal death, premature birth, or life-threatening infections," Fuertes said.