Bacterial Infections

If you suffer from any bacterial infections you should not be handling food.

What are bacterial Infections and where are they found?

Bacteria are minute, single celled organisms found throughout the living and non-living world, in soil, in plants and located within or on the bodies of animals and people. Bacteria are larger than viruses but smaller than living cells. Unlike viruses, bacteria contain all the information and machinery necessary to grow and reproduce themselves, and therefore do not need to live inside cells as viruses do. Bacteria reproduce by growing in size and then dividing, thus doubling their population. Under favourable conditions this may only take 30 minutes. When conditions are less favourable, bacteria grow and divide very slowly, or become dormant.

How do bacterial Infections cause disease?

The healthy human body harbours many different types of bacteria. Many of these live inside the body without causing problems. It is only when this coexistence breaks down and the body’s defences are overcome that Bacterial Infection produce disease. Some disease-producing bacteria are already present in a healthy person, but only cause harm when that person has impaired body defences, due to stress, viral infection, or other diseases.

Other sorts of bacteria are acquired from external sources and can either evade the defences of an otherwise healthy person or attack after the body has been weakened by another condition. Bacteria enter the body through the skin, respiratory, digestive or genitourinary tracts. Bacterial infections will occur if the defence mechanisms at these points are overcome.

Common routes of Bacterial Infection are through broken skin, by breathing infected air, by ingesting contaminated water or food, or through sexual contact. Once inside the body, bacteria may use special mechanisms to home in on their preferred site. However, this site of infection is likely to be close to the point at which the bacteria entered the body. The bacteria either grow in the body fluids surrounding tissues (extracellular bacteria) or allow themselves to be engulfed by cells and grow inside them (intracellular bacteria).

Bacteria cause tissue damage by producing a range of substances that are poisonous to human cells. Some bacterial poisons are among the most toxic substances known. For example, cholera toxin activates fluid secretion in the digestive tract. If untreated, this can lead to a fatal loss of water and salts (electrolytes). Symptoms may also be caused by the body’s response to the infection.

For example, bacteria which are disintegrating as a result of attack by the immune system can release components of their cell walls (endotoxins) into the circulation which may be toxic to the body. Likewise, an over-zealous response of immune cells (such as in response to TB) may cause more damage than the infection.

How are Bacterial Infections diagnosed?

The bacteria involved may be identified, by taking a sample of blood or of infected tissue. The site and symptoms of the infection will provide some clues, but most information will be obtained by growing (culturing) the bacteria in the hospital laboratory; assessing the conditions they grow under and which antibiotics kill them.

What will the doctor do?

The doctor will give you a general examination, take your pulse and temperature, measure your blood pressure and may take a specimen to be analysed in the hospital laboratory. The doctor will probably have some indication of the type of bacteria involved and prescribe a broad spectrum antibiotic for you to take until the laboratory results are available.

Are Bacterial Infections dangerous?

With the advent of antibiotics and improved personal hygiene, bacterial infections are not the scourge they used to be. However, they should always be taken seriously, especially where the affected person is particularly vulnerable, as is the case with the very young, very old or those weakened by another condition.

SYMPTOMS of Bacterial Infections

• General symptoms: persistent high temperature, sweating and generally feeling unwell.
• Local symptoms: pain, swelling, accumulation of pus and discharge.
• Chest infections: painful coughing, production of green sputum.
• Bladder infections: pain on passing urine.

Bill & Sheila’s Food Safety – Bacterial Infections