FOOD-BORNE ILLNESSES

Food-related illness can be the result of several factors: food contamination from bacteria, fungi, protozoans, viruses, prions, or food intoxication from a toxin being released into the food (often from some initial microbial contamination). No matter how the illness presents itself, it is almost always the result of improper food handling or cooking. The most common signs are vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping, but may also include nausea, fever, internal organ damage, coma, and death.

Our bodies do have natural defenses against infection, that fortunately protect us in many cases. We have physical defenses such as sticky mucus, continuous sloughing of epithelial cells, and wavelike contractions of smooth muscle called peristalsis throughout the gastrointestinal tract. We also have chemical defenses, such as enzymes in our saliva and intestines, mucus that is toxic to many microbes, and stomach acid and pepsin. Finally, we have cellular defenses like phagocytes in our oral cavity and large intestine to "gobble up" microbes.

But when our defenses fail, the war within begins...