Diseases related to foodborne infections. Food poisoning, infections and measures to prevent them

Foodborne infections are a group of diseases that develop when sanitary and hygienic conditions for storing and preparing food are not observed. Often such diseases are widespread, and some of them can lead to death.

Despite the abundance and availability of food, people are increasingly suffering from poisoning. It's all about a large accumulation of bacteria. Foodborne infections are among the most common. Product contamination occurs when sanitary and hygienic standards are not observed. Therefore, poisonings are widespread. Some diseases, for example, can be fatal.

Bacteriologists identify more than thirty types of pathogenic organisms. They are resistant to environmental influences (sunlight, temperature changes, etc.). Under favorable conditions they reproduce very quickly. Pathogenic microorganisms are divided into the following groups:

• zoonoses - dangerous only for animals;
• anthroponoses - dangerous only for people;
• zooanthroponoses are dangerous for both people and animals.

Foodborne infectious diseases are divided into two groups. The basis of the classification is the pathogen. The first includes cholera and typhus. It is called anthroponoses. The second group is zooanthroponoses. These include plague, anthrax, and brucellosis.

Animals can get sick in a hidden form. Their meat and other products will be contaminated and dangerous to humans. The causes of food contamination and their consequences for the body can be different.

You can only get infected from food containing bacteria. Microorganisms are in dormant mode. They will need favorable conditions to reproduce. These include constant humidity and violations of sanitary standards. This is especially true for sweet foods. Botulism toxins appear when conservation rules are violated. A poorly sterilized container is a breeding ground for bacteria. This happens especially quickly at high temperatures. So meat quickly becomes a source of infection in the summer.

The classification of foodborne diseases would be incomplete without mentioning toxicoses. They may appear:

• due to fungus (mold);
• poisonous animals (poisonous fish, snakes, etc.).

There are chemical toxicoses - they appear as a result of eating fruits and vegetables treated with harmful fertilizers.

Symptoms and features

Poisoning is indicated by deterioration of the condition after eating. Dizziness, vomiting, nausea indicate disruption of the digestive tract. Diarrhea, flatulence, and cramps are observed.

The first sign is considered to be lack of appetite. The abdomen is swollen, symptoms worsen when walking. A few hours later, intestinal spasms are observed. Prolonged diarrhea begins. A nagging pain appears in the lower abdomen. A characteristic feature of foodborne infections is the widespread nature of infection.

In kindergartens, schools, canteens and food places, an outbreak of the disease may occur as a result of violation of sanitary and hygienic standards, in particular violation of the norms and shelf life of products. Microorganisms enter the human body exclusively through the mouth. That is, he needs to eat infected food. An infected person becomes a source of infection. Transmission occurs through feces. Therefore, during the treatment period, you must carefully observe the rules of personal hygiene.

At the first symptoms of food poisoning, you should call an ambulance. As first aid, the patient needs to artificially induce vomiting. To do this, you need to give him a weak pink solution of potassium permanganate or water with salt. Or press on the root of the tongue. Blood in the stool, high temperature, delirium are signs of the need for hospitalization.

At the hospital, a number of tests will be taken from the patient: blood, vomit, bile and feces. All this will allow us to determine the exact type of causative agent of the disease. It is important to prevent dehydration. To do this, the patient needs to drink a lot of clean water.

It is important to follow a strict diet. Boiled porridge in water without butter or sugar, crackers without seasoning, unsweetened tea. Some patients refuse food. A day of fasting will only benefit the gastrointestinal tract. At the same time, symptoms are treated. its analogs allow you to remove harmful substances from the body.

Antibiotics are prescribed if necessary. Taking probiotics and vitamins would be a good idea. All these measures will allow the body to quickly recover.

Prevention measures

It is easier to prevent any disease than to treat it. Prevention of food infections comes down to compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards. Choose your food products carefully and do not visit questionable cafes. Wash your hands, vegetables and fruits, greens. Follow the norms and shelf life of meat and dairy products.

Do not try to eat foods that have expired. Heat treatment will not protect against infection. Viruses and bacteria are resistant to chemical treatment; ordinary frying will not harm them. The peak incidence occurs in the summer. The heat causes many foods to spoil faster.

Very often, after a festive feast, or after a home dinner, we feel unwell, expressed by weakness, nausea, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Of course, first of all we suspect ordinary food poisoning, but is it really so? After all, food infections and food poisoning at first glance have similar symptoms, but delving into the clinical picture, you can recognize completely two different diseases.

Food contaminated with various bacteria contributes to the development of gastrointestinal disorders

Since the clinical picture of these two pathological processes is similar, it is therefore quite difficult to diagnose them from each other. Laboratory tests and questioning of the patient allow an accurate diagnosis to be made.

Foodborne infections (intestinal) include a wide range of acute infectious diseases.

The main provocateurs of the disease are:

• shigella (dysentery);

• virus (rotavirus infection);

• salmonella (salmonellosis, typhus);

• Escherichia coli (escherichiosis).

The above diseases are united by one symptom - the development in one of the sections of the gastrointestinal tract of an acute inflammatory process, which appears under the influence of an infectious agent (bacteria or virus).

Each of these agents is capable of affecting a separate area of ​​the stomach, and subsequently, the small and large intestines. Often, the path of pathogenic microorganisms to intestinal damage takes several hours, so signs of infection may appear only the next day.

Etiology of food poisoning, their classification

They are non-infectious in nature, so there are no signs of infection in a healthy person. It develops as a result of ingestion of food products contaminated with certain types of microorganisms, or affected by microbial or non-microbial toxins.

This disease is widespread; when eating poor-quality food, massive outbreaks of poisoning can occur, but sometimes these are isolated cases. When food is stored for a long time, microorganisms multiply and begin to release toxins.

Important. Food poisoning accounts for 95% of all cases of damage to the body by harmful microorganisms. Their distinguishing feature from foodborne infections is the absence of transmission of the disease from a sick person to a healthy one. The only way is for microbes to enter directly into the stomach when eating food.

Groups of food intoxications

Food intoxications of the body are divided into three groups:

1. Microbial.
2. Non-microbial.
3. Unexplained etiology.

Table No. 1. Types of food intoxication:

Toxic infections

This group of food poisoning is characterized by an acute manifestation of symptoms and is characterized by a massive outbreak due to the ingestion of food products containing a huge number of opportunistic microorganisms and the exotoxins produced in them.

Often the disease is caused by ingestion of heat-processed food and re-infection. Mostly, massive outbreaks of the disease occur in the summer.

Interesting fact. Professor P.N. Lashchenkov in 1901 made one of the first descriptions of the etiology and signs of staphylococcal infection. Today, medical scientists have discovered a huge amount of information about the significance of opportunistic microflora and the exotoxins it produces in the development of toxic infections. This suggests that the occurrence of toxic infections is associated not only with the consumption of products containing microorganisms, but the amount of exotoxins accumulated in them is of particular importance.

Toxicoses

They belong to a group of acute diseases that occur as a result of ingesting foods contaminated with toxins.

Toxicoses can be divided into subgroups:

1. Staphylococcal toxicosis. One of the most common poisonings, staphylococci live quite commonly in the external environment. When they enter food, they begin to actively reproduce and produce enterotoxin. The favorable temperature for the proliferation of staphylococci is 22 degrees. At temperatures below 4 degrees, as well as above 45 degrees, their reproduction is slowed down. They die completely at a temperature of 80 degrees, being in such an environment for more than 10 minutes. The main source of infection spread is humans. These are the skin, intestines, and nasopharynx.
2. Botulism. This disease is characterized by a severe degree of food intoxication. Develops against the background of ingestion of food contaminated with botulinum bacillus. Mainly lives in the intestines of warm-blooded fish and animals. There are 7 types of pathogens, the spores are highly resistant to both low and high temperatures, drying and chemical treatment. Complete destruction of pores can be achieved at a temperature of 100 degrees, when staying in such an environment for more than 5 hours.
3. Mycotoxicosis. The disease develops in particular from eating foods of plant origin that contain fungal toxins. Today, there are more than 250 species of such fungi that produce mycotoxins with a high degree of toxicity. The stimulating factor is the consumption of slightly rotten tomatoes, pears, apples, and various fruits. Patulin is found in tomatoes, which evenly fills all tissues of the product. The action of patulin is aimed at destroying the genetic apparatus of cells, which leads to fetal deformities in pregnant women.

Buying fish at the market is quite dangerous, since not every seller has a certificate for the quality of the product. As the photo shows us, one cannot be sure how this fish is caught.

Similarities and differences

Both food poisoning and infections are a number of unpleasant diseases that are characterized by severe weakness, diarrhea and vomiting. Often, only laboratory tests can distinguish one disease from another.

Even an experienced doctor will not always be able to make a diagnosis based only on primary symptoms, so next we will talk about how to distinguish rotavirus infection from food poisoning.

Similar characteristics

The similarities between these two diseases lie in the following factors:

1. The gastrointestinal tract system is primarily at risk of damage from various types of food toxins. Any of the departments, both the stomach and the small and large intestines, can be involved in the pathological process.
2. The two diseases are cyclical. There are three periods: incubation, active, and subsidence of the disease.
3. The same process of infection is through the consumption of foods containing toxins.
4. Symptomatic similarity. Both one and the second pathology are manifested by nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and diarrhea.
5. Dehydration of the body. With any poisoning, the victim is prone to a large loss of fluid, therefore, after some time, disturbances in other body systems are involved in the painful process. This could be the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, nervous system.

Having decided on the above factors, we can say that these two pathological processes have absolutely no differences, but the course of the disease completely depends on the specific situation. Despite the fact that the two types of poisoning have many similar factors, there are still significant differences in them.

Distinctive characteristics

At home, if one of the family members is poisoned, it is difficult for an ordinary person to determine what type of intoxication. In medicine, there are certain instructions for this that allow you to make an accurate diagnosis. In particular, these are bacteriological cultures and laboratory tests of urine, blood and feces.

Main distinctive characteristics:

1. Intestinal infections differ in the length of the incubation period. During this period, the victim may already experience general malaise, but no characteristic clinical picture is observed. Bacterial and viral infections, unlike food poisoning, last up to 14 days. Symptoms of the latter appear after a few hours.
2. Food poisoning is characterized by damage to the upper gastrointestinal tract, and with infections, the small and large intestines are at risk of damage.
3. Rotavirus infection often occurs in children over two years of age; all parts of the gastrointestinal tract are involved in the disease process. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, followed by rumbling and pain in the stomach, and only then does diarrhea appear.
4. The main difference is body temperature. In case of food poisoning, in the first hours of intoxication it ranges from 37 to 39 degrees, after which it subsides. But with infections it reaches 40 degrees only on the 2nd or 3rd day.
5. The duration of mild food poisoning is up to 3 days, after which complete recovery is observed. But the duration of intestinal infections is more than 10 days.
6. With rotavirus infection, loose stools are observed, while with food intoxication, diarrhea may be absent.

Important. The final diagnosis can only be made by an experienced specialist, based on medical history and laboratory results. If an acute intestinal infection is suspected, the victim should be hospitalized immediately, as severe dehydration may occur, which leads to serious consequences.

Treatment

At home, treatment of intestinal infections and food poisoning follows the same principle and consists of several stages:

1. First of all, the patient needs to restore the water-salt balance. To do this, you need to follow a drinking regime. Good options: sweet tea with lemon, still mineral water (Borjomi, Yesentuki), cranberry juice. You should drink frequently and in small portions. Small children are fed with teaspoons every 10 minutes.
2. Reception of sorbents: Enterosgel. The price of such drugs is low, so they should be in every first aid kit, especially if there is a small child living in the house, who is most at risk of possible poisoning.
3. Hunger. For such diseases, the patient should limit food intake for 8 hours. It is allowed to eat oatmeal and rice liquid porridge without adding butter, biscuits, baked apple, chicken broth, cooked a second time. This diet should be followed for the first three days, gradually adding soups, chicken, steamed fish and other cereals to the diet.

Drug therapy requires constant medical supervision. In case of acute infections and poisonings, measures can be taken at home to alleviate the existing symptoms, but in the hospital complex treatment is prescribed, based on test results and the severity of the disease.

To summarize, we note that food poisoning, toxicosis and toxic infections can be treated at home if they are mild. In other cases, qualified medical assistance is required, so hospitalization should not be delayed, especially when it comes to children.

Death is possible, but this is an extremely rare situation. Basically, this risk prevails when consuming poisoned mushrooms and poisonous plants. The proposed video in this article will allow our guests to learn about the differences between food poisoning and foodborne infections.

Pathogenic microorganisms are characterized by strict specificity, i.e., each pathogen can cause a specific disease. A characteristic biological feature of pathogenic microbes is their ability to produce toxins and other harmful substances that have a pathogenic effect on the body. Pathogenic microbes produce two types of toxins: exotoxins and endotoxins. Exotoxins are released into the environment during the life of microorganisms, and endotoxins are released only after their death and destruction. Diseases that arise in humans from pathogenic microbes that enter the body with food (or water) are called foodborne infectious diseases. These include acute intestinal infections. (typhoid fever, dysentery, cholera, salmonellosis, etc.). Some diseases are transmitted to humans from sick animals (tuberculosis, brucellosis, foot and mouth disease, anthrax, etc.). They are called onizoonoses.

Acute intestinal infections are the most common diseases, called “diseases of dirty hands,” the pathogens of which can enter the human body through the mouth with food prepared in violation of sanitary hygiene rules. Pathogens of intestinal infections retain their viability in the external environment for a long time. Thus, the dysentery bacillus does not die on vegetables and fruits within 6... . 17 days, typhoid fever on bread - for 30 days, and cholera pathogen in water - up to 2 years. Dysentery is a disease that occurs when a microbe - the dysentery bacillus - enters the human intestines with food. Incubation period of the disease 2. . . 5 days. Signs of the disease: weakness, fever, pain in the intestines, repeated loose stools, sometimes with blood and mucus. After recovery, a person may remain a carrier of the bacteria. The causative agents of dysentery are immobile rods, aerobes, and do not form spores. The optimal temperature for their development is 37 "C, they die at a temperature of 60 ° C for 10... 15 minutes, they tolerate cooling well. Dysentery is transmitted through vegetables, fruits, water, dairy products consumed raw, and any prepared food contaminated during preparation and storage under unsanitary conditions.

Typhoid fever is a severe infectious disease caused by the typhoid bacillus. Incubation period of the disease 7. . . 23 days. Signs of the disease: acute intestinal dysfunction, severe weakness, rash, prolonged high fever (up to 40 ° C), delirium, headache, insomnia. After recovery, prolonged carriage of the bacteria is possible. The causative agents of typhoid fever are motile rods that do not form spores, conditional anaerobes. The optimal temperature for their development is 37 °C. They are resistant to cold and drying, but die at 60 °C after 15...20 minutes. Human infection occurs through water, various food products (milk, dairy products, jellies, jellied dishes, sausages), which are prepared and stored , transported in violation of sanitary and hygienic rules.

Cholera is a particularly dangerous infection that enters the human body through the mouth. Incubation period of the disease 2. . . 6 days Signs of the disease: sudden, uncontrollable diarrhea and vomiting, severely dehydrating the body, weakness, headache, dizziness, temperature 35 "C, convulsions. If emergency measures are not taken, death may occur. After recovery, bacterial carriage is possible. The causative agent of the disease - Vibrio cholerae. The optimal temperature for its development is 37 "C. It tolerates low temperatures and freezing well, and dies when dried, from exposure to sunlight, when boiled for 1 minute, and instantly in an acidic environment. The infection is transmitted through water and food prepared and stored in unsanitary conditions.

Epidemic hepatitis (infectious jaundice, Botkin's disease) is an acute infectious disease with predominant liver damage. The disease is named after S.P. Botkin, who established its infectious nature. The incubation period is from 14 days to 6 months. The disease begins gradually: weakness, loose stools, and fever appear, then the liver enlarges, dark urine is secreted, and yellowness of the skin and mucous membranes appears. Illness lasts 2. . . 3 weeks, sometimes it lasts up to 2... . 3 months More often it ends in recovery, but sometimes complications arise in the form of cholecystitis and cirrhosis of the liver. The causative agent of the disease is a filterable virus, resistant to drying, freezing, and dies when boiled for 30. . 40 min. The virus only affects humans. The patient has it in the blood and is excreted in urine and feces. Infection occurs by consuming food and water contaminated with the virus, by violating the rules of personal hygiene (dirty hands, flies) or through blood. Hepatitis B is especially dangerous for human health and life, the virus of which enters the body of a healthy person, in addition to the mentioned routes, and through sexual contact through contact with a sick person. Hepatitis B can be complicated by severe liver cirrhosis, which can be fatal.

Salmonellosis is a disease caused by Salmonella microbes that occurs after 3... . 5 hours after eating food contaminated with bacteria. In the intestines, Salmonella causes inflammation of the mucous membrane. When bacteria die, a toxin is released, which, together with living microbes, is absorbed into the blood. The patient experiences nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, dizziness, and high temperature (38...39 °C). The disease lasts 2. . . 7 days. The mortality rate for salmonellosis is 1%. After recovery, cases of bacterial carriage are possible. Salmonella are short, mobile rods that do not form spores, conditional anaerobes, named after the scientist Salmon, who discovered them. Their development optimum is 37°C, they develop well at room temperature, are stable in the external environment, stop development at 4°C, and die at 70. . . 75 °C for 30 min. The source of salmonella spread is animals: large and small cattle, pigs, horses, birds, especially waterfowl, dogs, rodents. With the feces of these animals, salmonella enters the soil and water.

The reasons for food contamination with Salmonella are various. Catering establishments may receive products contaminated with salmonella (primary contamination). Such products include meat, poultry, eggs, milk, fish. The most common cause of salmonellosis is meat and meat products. Contamination of meat can occur during the life of the animal. When such animals are forced to be slaughtered, the meat always turns out to be contaminated with Salmonella. Contamination of meat is possible both during slaughter and during cutting of carcasses through contamination with intestinal contents. Birds, especially waterfowl (geese, ducks), become infected in the same way as livestock. Poultry eggs, especially goose and duck eggs, become infected during formation and laying, milk - during milking and processing. Fish become infected through bodies of water; Salmonella penetrates its muscle tissue from the intestines. Salmonellosis can arise from secondary contamination of food with salmonella in case of violation of sanitary rules for its preparation and storage. Secondary contamination of dishes prepared after heat treatment is most possible: jelly, jellied meat, minced meat for pancakes and pies, pates, salads, vinaigrettes. Violation of personal hygiene rules, flies, dirty tableware and kitchen utensils, especially cutting boards, also contribute to the occurrence of salmonellosis.

Zoonoses are infectious diseases characteristic of animals. Brucellosis is a serious infectious disease accompanied by attacks of fever, swelling and pain in the joints and muscles. Incubation period 4. . . 20 days. The duration of the disease is from several weeks to several months. The causative agent is Brucella - a bacterium in the form of a small rod with an optimal development temperature of 37 ° C, which dies during heat treatment. Human infection occurs through milk, dairy products (cheese, feta cheese, butter) and meat, in which Brucella survives from 8 to 60 days.

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease that most often affects the lungs and lymph nodes. Humans become infected from sick animals, birds and people. The causative agent of the disease is tuberculosis bacillus, resistant to drying and freezing, persisting on food products for up to 2 months. It dies when boiled for 10 minutes. The tuberculosis bacillus enters the body of a healthy person with raw milk and dairy products, as well as with poorly cooked or fried meat obtained from animals with tuberculosis. Infection is transmitted from a sick person by airborne droplets or contact.

Anthrax is a particularly dangerous acute infectious disease of animals and humans that affects the skin, lungs or intestines. With this disease, all functions of the body are disrupted, the temperature rises to 40 ° C, weakness of cardiac activity occurs, and in the intestinal form, vomiting and diarrhea appear. Fatalities are common. The causative agent of anthrax is a bacillus, the spores of which are very resistant to environmental influences and chemicals. The infection is transmitted through the meat and milk of sick animals; in direct contact with them and animal products (wool, leather, etc.). The main role in the prevention of this terrible disease belongs to strict veterinary control of animals. Meat from sick animals cannot be processed; sick animals are destroyed. Foot and mouth disease is a contagious disease of viral origin, transmitted to humans from sick animals through meat and milk. This disease manifests itself in the form of inflammation and ulceration of the oral mucosa. The foot and mouth disease virus is not resistant to heat treatment and weak organic acids, and is killed when meat is cooked.

Measures to prevent acute intestinal infections at public catering establishments are reduced to the following: 1. examination of cooks, confectioners and other catering workers for bacterial carriage at least once a year; 2. observance of personal hygiene rules by cooks, confectioners and other food service workers; 3. careful care of kitchen and tableware, equipment, compliance with the markings of cutting boards; 4. strict adherence to cleanliness in the workplace and workshop; 5. extermination of flies, cockroaches and rodents; 6. boiling water from open reservoirs when used; it for food and drink; 7. Thorough washing of vegetables, fruits, berries, especially those eaten raw; 8. use of meat with a mark indicating that it has passed veterinary and sanitary control; 9. quick preparation of chopped semi-finished products, including cutlet mass, thereby preventing the proliferation of salmonella;

10. strict adherence to the technology of processing and preparing meat, fish, and dairy dishes from eggs; 11. mandatory secondary heat treatment of perishable meat dishes (jelly, jellied meat, minced meat for pancakes, pates, boiled meat and poultry after cutting) during the cooking process; 12. protecting salads, vinaigrettes and other cold dishes from contamination by hands during preparation; 13. storage of prepared food for no more than the established period at a temperature of 2-6 °C or hot not lower than 65 °C; repeated heat treatment of long-stored food. Measures to prevent zoonoses in public catering establishments are as follows: 1. Checking the presence of a mark on meat carcasses, indicating veterinary and sanitary inspection of raw materials. 2. Thorough boiling and frying of meat dishes. 3. Boiling milk, using curdled milk. Kvass itself is used only for preparing dough, and unpasteurized cottage cheese is used for preparing dishes subject to heat treatment.

Foodborne illnesses can be caused by microbes that enter the body with food, or substances contained in food products that are harmful to the body.

Microbes

Microbes are tiny, mostly single-celled living creatures that come in a variety of shapes. They are indistinguishable to the naked eye, and some of them (viruses) cannot even be seen under a microscope. Some microbes are immobile, others move with the help of cilia or flagella.

Microbes are widespread in nature. Many of them are found in the air, soil, water, from where they get onto objects, clothing, hands, and food. Microbes multiply very quickly. A favorable environment for their development is liquid (water, broth, milk) or foods with high humidity. In addition to moisture, the proliferation of microorganisms requires temperature (25-35°) and the presence of a nutrient medium. They feed on proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. Most microbes cannot exist without air, but there are also those that die from the action of oxygen (anaerobic microbes).

All microorganisms are divided into several groups: bacteria, yeast and mold fungi and ultramicrobes (viruses and bacteriophages).

Some microbes are beneficial. They play a significant role in plant life and are widely used in the food industry and other sectors of the national economy, medicine, and pharmacology. Thus, yeast is needed in bakery production, participates in fermentation processes in the production of wine, beer, kvass, and serves as the basis for the production of artificial protein. Lactic acid bacteria are used in the production of yogurt and other lactic acid products, in sauerkraut, pickling cucumbers, etc.

However, there are also harmful, pathogenic microbes that, penetrating into the body of a person or animal, produce toxic substances - toxins that cause certain diseases. Many microbes are causative agents of infectious diseases. Some of them cause food spoilage - rotting, molding, souring, rancidity.

To prevent food spoilage, they use various methods to destroy microorganisms or create conditions unfavorable for their life. The most effective way to kill germs is to use high temperatures. Most microbes, if they are in liquid, die within 20-30 minutes when heated to 60-70°.

However, some microbes have the ability, under certain conditions, to form spores that die only at temperatures above 100°.

Some products (milk, caviar) are pasteurized, that is, heated at a temperature of 63-65° for half an hour or at a temperature of 75-90° for 5-10 minutes. During pasteurization, most bacteria, yeasts and molds die, but their spores remain. When storing food, it can sprout and cause spoilage. Complete destruction of microbes and spores is achieved by sterilization, that is, heating products in special devices at temperatures above 100°. This is how canned food is made.

Low temperature does not kill microbes, but delays their development. Therefore, to prevent spoilage, food is stored in the cold, and if long-term storage is necessary, it is frozen.

Salt or its strong solution, as well as concentrated sugar syrup, stops the development of microorganisms. This is used when preparing food for future use, when salting, preparing preserves, jam, and candied fruits. Putrefactive microflora is destroyed by lactic, citric and acetic acids used in fermentation and pickling.

A common method of preserving food is drying, which retards the development of microorganisms. Sun drying is especially effective, since most microbes cannot tolerate direct sunlight. Along with drying, products are smoked, during which they are not only dried, but also exposed to aseptic substances contained in the smoke.

Among modern methods of destroying harmful microorganisms, a prominent place belongs to bactericidal ultraviolet radiation. Products are irradiated with special bactericidal lamps, thereby disinfecting even heavily contaminated surfaces of meat, sausage and other products. Ultraviolet rays are used to improve air health and destroy germs on work tables, clothing, dishes and equipment.

To destroy microorganisms in rooms, workplaces, dishes, containers, disinfectants are used. Such a disinfectant is a bleach solution. First, prepare a 10% working solution of bleach (10 kg of powder per 10 liters of cold water), leave it in an enamel bucket with a lid or dark sealed bottles for a day, remove the foam from above, and then filter. This solution can be used for no more than five days.

To disinfect hands, utensils, utensils and equipment, use a 0.2% solution of bleach, which is prepared from a 10% solution (200 g of solution per 10 liters of water). It can be used throughout the day.

Food poisoning

Food poisoning occurs as a result of eating food containing substances harmful to the body. These diseases are not transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person. As a rule, they are sudden.

Signs of most food poisoning are nausea, dizziness, upset stomach, vomiting, pain in the stomach and intestines, sometimes fever, and heart weakness. Severe poisoning is accompanied by convulsions, loss of consciousness, etc.

Food poisoning, depending on its source, is divided into bacterial and non-bacterial. Bacterial poisoning occurs most often. Poisoning caused by living microbes that enter the body with food in large quantities are called toxic infections. They are caused by bacteria called salmonella, which belong to the group of paratyphoid microorganisms. The most common cause of toxic infections is the consumption of poor quality meat and meat products. Bacteria of the paratyphoid group multiply especially quickly in jelly, jellied products, pates, minced meat products, and meat dishes stewed in sauce.

To prevent salmonella poisoning, it is necessary to follow sanitary rules when transporting and storing meat, check for the presence of a health inspection mark on carcasses, observe the strictest hygiene during cold and heat processing of meat products, and use separate tools and equipment when processing raw and finished meat products. Salmonella is found in duck and goose eggs, which are prohibited for consumption in catering establishments.

Foodborne illnesses can be caused by Proteus, intestinal bacteria and other microbes. Proteus poisoning occurs when consuming low-quality meat and fish products, liver, boiled sausages, chopped herring, potato salad, curdled milk, and salted fish products soaked in warm water. E. coli can easily become contaminated with products, equipment and equipment (especially in summer) if the necessary sanitary conditions are not observed in production.

Poisoning caused by food that contains toxins is called intoxication. Intoxications are most often caused by staphylococci and botulinus bacilli.

Contamination of products with staphylococci occurs through persons suffering from pustular skin diseases, catarrhal diseases of the mouth and throat. The best nutrient medium for staphylococci are milk, cottage cheese, feta cheese, custard, omelet, ice cream and other products when stored in a warm place. To prevent food poisoning caused by staphylococci, it is necessary to: boil or pasteurize milk and store it in the cold; carefully control the quality of eggs used for making creams or ice cream; Do not allow melted ice cream to refreeze; temporarily suspend from work persons suffering from sore throat and pustular skin diseases. It is especially important to observe the terms and conditions of storage of cakes and pastries, wash and boil pastry bags with soda every day.

The microbe botulinus is very dangerous, which produces a powerful poison that causes the disease botulism. This disease mainly affects the nervous system. Severe forms of the disease can be fatal. Currently it is quite rare. Botulinus multiplies especially quickly in non-standard fish, in poorly sterilized canned food. Salting fish (8-10%) stops the development of botulinum, and the previously formed toxin is destroyed only when heated (80°) for 30 minutes.

Food poisoning of non-bacterial origin occurs when toxic substances get into food: copper salts, zinc, arsenic, lead, as well as when consuming poisonous mushrooms, sprouted potatoes, apricot grains, plums, cherries and other products.

In this regard, food should be cooked in stainless steel or aluminum containers. To prepare and store prepared food, you should not use galvanized iron utensils, as zinc compounds can pass into the food and cause poisoning. In such a container you can only boil water and store dry foods.

The sprouts and skins of sprouted potatoes contain the toxic substance solanine. If the potatoes begin to sprout, they must be boiled, peeled, so that the solanine dissolves in water, and the broth must be discarded. Heavily sprouted potatoes are not allowed to be eaten.

Various poisons used to exterminate rodents, flies and cockroaches cannot be stored in pantries and canteens.

In all cases of food poisoning, the products and prepared foods that caused the poisoning should be immediately removed from consumption and reported to the sanitary and epidemiological station.

Foodborne infections

Foodborne infections include contagious diseases resulting from the consumption of foods contaminated with pathogenic microbes. Products can be contaminated with these microbes if production workers do not comply with personal hygiene rules, do not wash their hands satisfactorily after visiting the restroom, etc. They are carried by flies, cockroaches, and rodents. In addition, they can get into products from a sick animal (milk from tuberculosis or brucellosis cows).

Typhoid fever, dysentery, paratyphoid fever and other diseases are transmitted through contaminated products. Intestinal infections can be caused by consuming jellies, salads and other products, the production and storage of which did not comply with sanitary and hygienic requirements. To prevent such diseases through milk (since it is a favorable environment for these microbes), you need to consume only boiled or pasteurized milk. Cottage cheese made from unpasteurized milk must be cooked.

Infectious diseases are spread not only by a sick person, but also by people who have previously had an infectious disease, as well as those who became carriers of the disease as a result of contact with a sick person. Such people are called bacteria carriers.

Some intestinal infections, even with a mild form of the disease, quickly spread to others. Patients who come into contact with products contaminate them with pathogenic microbes. Therefore, in case of any gastrointestinal disorder, food service workers must immediately consult a doctor. For timely detection of intestinal bacterial carriage, they are periodically required to undergo medical examination.

To prevent foodborne illnesses, it is necessary to: keep the premises, equipment and inventory of public catering establishments impeccably clean, promptly carry out disinfection and disinsection of the premises, comply with storage rules and deadlines for the sale of products, semi-finished products and ready-made food, require all employees to observe personal hygiene rules.

Foodborne infections. Their characteristics and symptoms

TO food infections include infectious diseases that arise from eating foods contaminated with microbes of various infectious diseases.

Food products can become contaminated with pathogenic microbes due to untidy hands, poor washing after visiting the restroom, etc. Pathogenic microbes are transferred to food products by insects (flies, cockroaches) and rodents (rats, mice). In addition, pathogenic microbes can enter a food product from a sick animal (for example, milk from tuberculosis or brucellosis cows).

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis and characterized by the formation of specific granulomas in various organs and tissues (usually in the lungs) and a polymorphic clinical picture. The causative agent of the disease is mycobacterium tuberculosis, or Koch's wand. In the active form of tuberculosis, Koch's bacillus quickly multiplies in the patient's lungs and destroys the lungs, poisoning the human body with its waste products, releasing toxins into it. Process in progress tuberculosis intoxication, otherwise poisoning of the human body. Mycobacteria tuberculosis have significant resistance to various physical and chemical agents, cold, heat, moisture and light. Under natural conditions, in the absence of sunlight, they can remain viable for several months. Mycobacteria persist in street dust for 10 days. On the pages of books they can remain alive for three months. Mycobacteria persist in water for a very long time (150 days). Mycobacteria tuberculosis They withstand decay processes and can survive for several months in buried corpses. Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmitted mainly by airborne droplets, entering the respiratory system from a sick person to a healthy person, causing tuberculosis lungs. In addition to the lungs, tuberculosis can affect various human organs and tissues: eyes, bones, skin, genitourinary system, intestines, etc. If untreated, mortality from active tuberculosis reaches 50% within one to two years. In the remaining 50% of cases, untreated tuberculosis becomes chronic. A chronic patient can live for some time, continuing to secrete mycobacteria tuberculosis and infect others. Pathogens tuberculosis They are very variable and quickly become resistant to drugs; they are difficult not only to destroy with drugs, but also to detect. Tuberculosis Not only people get sick, but also animals, which can be a source of infection. tuberculosis bacillus most often transmitted by airborne droplets. Not only cough and sputum are dangerous, but also dust. In humid places without access to the sun, the pathogen tuberculosis lives for months. Rarely tuberculosis received from food (milk or meat), water (if water bodies are contaminated with wastewater from tuberculosis hospitals or farms with sick livestock) or in utero. Sometimes tuberculosis people who dissect corpses or cut up meat carcasses become infected through wounds on the skin. Infection tuberculosis very often observed in childhood and adolescence. Not everyone is infected tuberculosis will get sick. Emergence tuberculosis depends on the weakening of the body, living conditions, nutrition, smoking, alcoholism and other harmful factors. If a person is healthy, lives in a normal home, eats well, his immune system copes with tuberculosis bacilli. If Koch's bacillus gets into the lungs (or other organ that first enters tuberculosis bacillus) a primary focus of inflammation develops, which is expressed in the appearance of symptoms of normal inflammation. But unlike a banal infection, the inflammatory process during tuberculosis develops very slowly (this is a chronic infection that lasts for years) and is prone to necrosis of the primary focus of inflammation. The complaints of patients are very diverse. Conventionally, they can be divided into nonspecific: malaise, weakness, low-grade fever, poor appetite, weight loss, pale skin, etc. and specific (typically characteristic of tuberculosis): sweating at night and in the morning (as a manifestation of intoxication, debilitating the patient), temperature ranges between morning and evening are no more than 0.5 degrees, obsessive prolonged cough, etc.

Intestinal diseases are most often transmitted through contaminated food products: dysentery (microbes that cause dysentery, dysentery bacilli), typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever. The spread of infections can be facilitated by milk, which is a good breeding ground for pathogenic microbes.

Dysentery

Amoebic dysentery. The causative agents of amoebic dysentery (amoebiasis) are pathogenic variants, or invasive strains, of amoebas Entamoeba histolytica. This species is widespread, but more than 90% of infected people are asymptomatic carriers. Long-term observations show that only some invasive strains E.histolytica pathogenic for humans; infection with non-invasive variants does not cause disease. Invasive strains have the ability to effectively overcome natural defense mechanisms.

The main reservoir of the causative agent of amoebic dysentery in nature is the human population. Transmission occurs through excrement-contaminated hands, water, or fruits and vegetables grown using human feces as fertilizer. Trophozoites of invasive strains Entamoeba histolytica penetrate the wall of the large intestine and cause inflammation (colitis) with the formation of necrotic ulcers. The disease can be mild or severe and is accompanied by abdominal pain and frequent loose stools mixed with blood. In severe cases, perforation of the intestinal wall is possible; if the vascular wall is damaged, the pathogen can spread through the bloodstream to the liver, lungs, and brain, which leads to the development of abscesses. Typically, amoebic dysentery has a chronic course of a “smoldering” nature, with an imperceptible onset and periods of exacerbations and remissions. Diagnosis can be difficult. Isolation of vegetative forms is of decisive importance in recognizing amebic ulcerative colitis E. histolytica in fecal samples, in clots of mucus from the colon, or in biopsy material. The symptoms of chronic amoebiasis often do not differ from the clinical manifestations of chronic ulcerative colitis, a disease whose cause remains unknown. A good therapeutic effect is achieved by using a combination of two drugs: metronidazole, which kills trophozoites, and diiodohydrosiquinol, directed against cysts.

Bacterial dysentery. The causative agents of bacterial dysentery are bacteria of the genus Shigella, although sometimes Salmonella, Campylobacter and other related bacteria can cause clinically similar diseases. At home, bacterial dysentery is most often transmitted through the fecal-oral route, for example, while caring for a patient, through various household items contaminated with the patient’s secretions. Among homosexual men, infection can occur through sexual contact. In countries with tropical climates, flies play an important role, transferring bacteria to food. Infected milk and dairy products can be a source of nosocomial outbreaks.

All representatives of the genus Shigella produce a toxin, under the influence of which the intestinal epithelial cells begin to secrete fluid - diarrhea develops; loose stools containing mucus, pus and often blood, similar to cholera discharge. Later, the cells damaged by the toxin die; their death is accompanied by inflammation, ulceration of the intestinal wall and other symptoms of dysentery. In children, general intoxication may be accompanied by neurological symptoms (vomiting, convulsions). Unlike amoebic dysentery, bacterial dysentery is characterized by a rapid increase in symptoms, fever and dehydration; the disease is usually shorter lasting and does not become chronic.

A mandatory component of treatment for bacterial dysentery is drinking plenty of fluids containing mineral salts and sugar. The use of antibiotics speeds up recovery, but the development of antibiotic-resistant forms is possible.

If the preparation technology is incorrect and sanitary and hygienic requirements are not observed when storing jellies, vinaigrettes, and salads, the latter can be a source of the spread of intestinal infections. To prevent human infection with typhoid fever, dysentery, infantile paralysis, paratyphoid fever, tuberculosis, brucellosis and foot-and-mouth disease through milk, you should only consume boiled or pasteurized milk.

Typhoid fever

Typhoid fever (typhoid fever - English, Abdominaltyphus - German, abdominale fievre - French) is an acute infectious disease caused by Salmonella typhi, characterized by fever, symptoms of general intoxication, bacteremia, enlarged liver and spleen, enteritis and peculiar morphological changes in the intestinal lymphatic system. The causative agent of typhoid fever (S. typhi) belongs to the family Enterobacteriaceae, genus Salmonella, species Salmonella enterica, subspecies enterica, serovar typhi and is morphologically no different from other salmonella. This is a gram-negative, motile rod with peritrichous flagella, does not form spores or capsules, and grows well on ordinary nutrient media. Biochemically it differs from other salmonella in the fermentation of glucose without gas formation and the delayed release of hydrogen sulfide. The antigenic structure of S. typhi is characterized by the presence of somatic O (9, 12, Vi) - complex and flagellar antigen H (d). Depending on the amount and location of the Vi-antigen, 3 variants of cultures are distinguished.