Dear Doctor,                                                                                                 

I recently woke up with a bad stomach that forced me to visit the toilet after every 30 minutes. I got concerned and rushed to a clinic for medical attention. After analyzing my stool sample, I was told that I had food poisoning from coliforms and given drugs. However, the condition did not improve for 3 days. What, however, puzzles me is where I could have got this infection from. What should I do to avoid a repeat of such a scenario?

Anonymous  

Dear Anonymous,

Food poisoning in a healthy adult usually occurs due to consuming food and / or water which is contaminated. Presence of coliforms in stool sample shows there has been contamination. This can happen at the level of cooking, serving or eating the food. Drinking water if not boiled or filtered can cause food poisoning. This occurs because the water in lakes or rivers is polluted due to natural, animal and human waste. Infection can be due to bacteria, virus or protozoa. Rarely do fungal infections of the intestines occur in debilitated patients. Normally microbes like coliforms live in human intestines as commensals. But in conditions of reduced immunity, they can multiply and cause sickness.

Sometimes one can have increased frequency of stool due to food allergy. Meat and milk products are more risky with regards to either being contaminated or causing allergy.

The best prevention for this problem is to maintain very good hygiene regarding food and water. Meat and vegetables should be cleaned thoroughly before preparation. One cooking or serving food should have clean hands and nails and should not be suffering from any diarrhoeal disease. Hand washing before eating is important.  Do not eat anywhere unless you are sure of good hygiene. Drink water which is boiled. Also avoid taking meat and / or milk products unless they are freshly cooked and the place is clean.