Symptoms of Food Poisoning

In food poisoning symptoms can appear minimum after 30 minutes to maximum 48 hours after the consumption of contaminated food. Usual symptoms of food poisoning include diarrhea, vomiting, nausea, chills, bloody stools, weakness and fatigue, abdominal pain and fever etc. The type of symptoms actually depends upon the type of contaminated food which causes food illness. Various illness factors cause various symptoms which are described below.

Food Poisoning Caused by Viruses

If food poisoning is caused by viruses including Norovirus or Rotavirus then symptoms includes nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache, low fever and diarrhea etc. but if is caused by Hepatitis A virus then these symptoms lead to severe conditions starting from high fever and appetite loss to onset of jaundice in which face and eyes becomes yellow in color. This condition could be life threatening and can easily be transmitted to other persons from fecal contaminated food. A person suffering from Hepatitis or Jaundice must consult to his doctor for proper treatment.

Food Poisoning in Case of Botulism

In case of botulism symptoms start to appear within 18 to 48 hours which starts from vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain and blurred vision and leads to nervous disturbance by damaging nerves rapidly. In such situation nerves become unable to carry proper coordination between brain and body organs and message carrying system in badly affected which further causes losing control over body muscles particularly those around face and neck. If such condition prolong with no proper diagnosis and treatment then patient can die within days. Usually serum is injected in patient’s body to neutralize the toxin affect and to prevent further damage.

If Salmonella is a cause behind food poisoning then symptoms include flu like condition throughout the week.

Food Poisoning by Bacterial Infection

In Staphylococcal food poisoning patient usually experiences severe abdominal cramps, fever, diarrhea and vomiting after passing 5 to 6 hours of contaminated food consumption. Such infection is caused by consuming dairy products, fish and pasteries intoxicated by staph bacteria.

Food Poisoning by Toxic Agents

When toxic agents like poisonous mushrooms cause food poisoning then patience has to suffer from vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, muscle pain, headache, dizziness, fatigue and rapid heart beat due to severe weakness. ‘Ciguatera poisoning’ is another case of food poisoning in which persons suffer from numbness or areas around lips and mouth along with weakness and dizziness after consuming a fish which contains toxins produced by marine algae called ‘Gambierdiscus toxicus’. In such case symptoms could be moderate to severe according to the quality of fish consumed.