Salmonella

What is salmonella?

Salmonella are motile, rod-shaped bacteria . More than 2500 subspecies are known, which can cause two large groups of diseases. Typhoid and paratyphoid are caused by typhoid salmonella. These include, for example, S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A, B and C. The course of the disease can be accompanied by high fever and lead to death. Non-typhoidal salmonella primarily trigger gastrointestinal inflammation, which is also known as salmonellosis. This article will focus on salmonellosis.

The main reservoir for salmonella are animals. They rarely contract salmonellosis themselves, but they can pass the pathogen on to humans. Children under the age of 10 are most commonly affected by salmonellosis. The disease often peaks in summer , but deaths from salmonellosis are very rare.

Salmonella route of infection

Salmonellosis is a classic food infection , which means that you usually get the pathogen through contaminated food. In Germany, most people become infected via:

• undercooked eggs
• Insufficiently heated food or preparations containing eggs
• raw meat
• Insufficiently heated meat products (minced meat, raw sausage types, fresh mettwurst, mussels)

Since a nationwide vaccination against salmonella in breeding poultry, laying hens, broilers and turkeys was introduced, there has been a significant reduction in salmonellosis cases in Germany.

You can also become infected with salmonella through cross-contamination . Here, food not contaminated with Salmonella is primarily infected with Salmonella through contact with infected people or contact with contaminated surfaces/food. You can also get infected directly through contact with contaminated animals. In particular , reptiles kept as pets can infect people with Salmonella, but there have also been rare cases of people being infected at a petting zoo. Human-to-human transmission is rare and occurs mainly under poor hygienic conditions, during hospital stays or in people with particularly weakened immune systems.

The incubation period is 5-72 hours, but is mostly in the range of 12-36 hours . An adult with salmonella enteritis usually continues to excrete pathogens for a month, in rare cases the excretion of the pathogen can last up to six months.

Symptoms of salmonellosis

Salmonellosis manifests itself as an acute intestinal inflammation. Typical symptoms are:

• Sudden onset of diarrhea
• abdominal pain /cramps
• headache
• malaise
• Vomit

The symptoms last for several days and can be accompanied by a slight fever . In the vast majority of cases, salmonellosis is a self-limiting disease in which the fever returns to normal after 2-3 days and the diarrhea stops on its own after 4 to 10 days.

The most common complication of salmonellosis is dehydration . It occurs primarily in young children and the elderly. Even if blood poisoning by salmonella is possible, this serious course with high fever is rare. Furthermore, the pathogens can settle in any organ and lead to local infections.

diagnosis

In most cases, food poisoning is not a reason to see a doctor. However, if the symptoms are very severe, the doctor can try to isolate and identify the pathogen from the stool, vomit or contaminated food. This should be done especially when:

• the diarrhea lasts longer than 3 days
• visible blood in the stool
• hospitalization is required

If blood poisoning is suspected, it may be necessary to culture the bacteria from the blood.

When should I go to the doctor?

Since antibiotic therapy in salmonellosis leads to prolonged excretion of the pathogen, it should only be used if there is an increased risk of a serious course or if complications cannot be ruled out. In these cases, you should see a doctor to have the severity of the condition assessed and possibly prescribe the appropriate antibiotics.

If food poisoning is suspected, the following groups need medical attention:

• Elderly people
• Children under 1 year
• toddlers
• people with an immune deficiency
• People with known heart defects

What can I do myself against a salmonella infection?

Salmonella multiply at 10-47°C, sometimes even at 6-8°C. They can survive in the environment and on food for up to several months and do not die even from freezing. They are only killed at a temperature of >70°C for 10 minutes.

Since you can mainly get infected with salmonella through food, you should make sure to keep the risk of contamination with salmonella as low as possible, especially in the kitchen. These measures include:

• Keep all dishes and foods that contain a lot of protein and water in the refrigerator (below 10°C). These include: raw meat and sausage products, slaughtered poultry, seafood, fish, eggs, creams, salads and mayonnaise with raw eggs, ice cream.
• Do not store food warmer than <60°C for long periods.
• Keep the cooling time of pre-cooked food as short as possible.
• Eat warm food within 2 hours of last heating.
• Salmonella can often be found in the defrost water from poultry and game. You should collect the defrost water separately and dispose of it immediately. All objects (including hands) should be washed immediately with water that is as hot as possible.
• When heating food in the microwave, the heating times should not be kept too short, so that the center of the food can also be heated.
• Instant products should always be prepared shortly before consumption.
• Always prepare instant baby food with water that is at least 70°C, then let it cool down quickly and use it as quickly as possible, at the latest within 2 hours.
• Strictly separate unclean and clean work processes in the kitchen (e.g. raw and cooked meat).
• Use cookable kitchen towels that are changed frequently.
• Strict adherence to hand hygiene.

Since small children in particular can become infected with reptiles, no reptiles should be kept in a household with children under the age of 2.

If you are suffering from symptoms of food poisoning, you should stay at home to protect yourself and not to infect your employees.

therapy of salmonellosis

Therapy for salmonella enteritis without complications consists of rest and replenishing the lack of fluids. Severe dehydration can quickly occur, especially in infants and small children, which is why fluid and electrolyte substitution with the help of infusions may not be necessary. In severe cases, salmonellosis is treated with antibiotics.

Salmonella in children and adolescents

Acute gastrointestinal inflammation is one of the most common diseases in childhood. Some of the symptoms that may indicate this are:

• Decreased stool consistency
• Increased stool frequency
• Vomit
• Fever

Even if children are less likely to suffer from a bacterial infection of the gastrointestinal tract and viral inflammations are more likely to cause symptoms, serious courses of salmonellosis in infancy are possible. Especially in the case of bloody diarrhea, a bacterial cause should be suspected and a pediatrician should be consulted immediately.

This is how Med-Healths can help with gastrointestinal complaints

In a detailed patient consultation, you can get an assessment of the severity of your symptoms via Med-Healths. The doctor can refer you to a local doctor’s office if antibiotic treatment is necessary. She or he can also give you advice on how to relieve the symptoms at home as much as possible.