E.coli has been in the news frequently the last several months. You have seen it connected to the lettuce scare and most recently in an outbreak possibly connected to Taco Bell. E.coli is short for Escherichia coli (esh-er-ick-ee-eh cole-eye) it is a common type of bacteria that normally lives inside your intestines. It helps your body break down and digest the foods you eat. There are different types of E.coli. It is a safe bacteria as long as it is in your intestines where it belongs. It becomes dangerous outside the body when it has been ingested in some form.
Theodore Escherich, a German pediatrician and bacteriologist, discovered E.coli. It is one of the main species of bacteria that lives in the lower intestines, it is also known as gut flora. The number of individual E.coli bacteria in the feces that a person excretes in one-day averages between 100 billion and 10 trillion.
How E.coli Makes You Sick
The most common reason for becoming ill from E.coli is eating food that contains the bacteria. Most often it comes from contaminated ground beef, meat that is not cooked thoroughly, vegetables washed in contaminated water, or nonpasturized juices.
Many times when eating out or even home where meat is not cooked all the way. When you take a bite of pinkish hamburger meat, you may be allowing any E.coli still alive in the meat to enter your body. If it passes through the acids in your stomach, it can enter your intestines, urinary tract, and even your blood stream and give you E.coli poisoning.
Symptoms of E.coli Poisoning
Symptoms start about seven days after you are infected. The first sign is severe abdominal cramps that have a sudden onset. After a few hours, you start having watery diarrhea. The diarrhea causes you to become dehydrated due to the loss of fluids and electrolytes. This diarrhea can last up to a day. After a day, it changes from watery to bright red bloody feces. This is caused by the infection making sores in your intestines. The bloody diarrhea can last 2 to 5 days.
You may have a fever or you may not. You may also have nausea and vomiting. If you develop any of the previously stated symptoms such as watery, bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, fever, nausea and vomiting you need to seek medical assistance right away.
Complications of E.coli Infection
The most common is called hemolytic uremic syndrome. People with this develop hemolytic anemia (which is a low red blood cell count), thrombocytopenia (Low platelet count) and renal failure (kidney damage). Hemolytic uremic syndrome is more common in children.
How E.coli Infection is treated
Most people recover without antibiotics or other specific treatment within 5 to 10 days. Antibiotics should not be used as a treatment. It is not proven that antibiotics help and is believed to be a possible contributor to kidney damage. Anti diarrheal medications should be avoided due to this is how E.coli escapes the body. Treatment is usually done with fluids for rehydration and other medications for pain relief.
How to Prevent E.coli Infection
You can help prevent this infection by handling and cooking meat in a safe way. For you protection, follow these rules.
- Wash your hands carefully with soap and water before you start to cook.
- Cook ground beef until you cannot see pink anywhere.
- Do not put cooked hamburgers on a plate that had raw ground beef on it before.
- Cook all hamburgers to at least 155 degrees F. a meat thermometer can help you test the meat.
- Defrost meats in the microwave or refrigerator. Do not let meat sit on a counter to defrost.
- Keep raw meat and poultry separate from other foods. Use hot water and soap to wash cutting boards and dishes if raw meat and poultry have touched them.
- Keep food refrigerated or frozen.
- Keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.
- Refrigerate leftovers right away or throw them out.
- People with diarrhea should wash their hands carefully and often, using hot water and soap, and washing for at least 30 seconds.
- When eating out always order hamburgers well done where no pink shows.
