Anecdotal reports of stomach flu/food poisoning? What's up?

I'm hearing anecdotal reports from New England to California of stomach distress, called either stomach flu or food poisoning, and have experienced same in my family. Has anybody else had, or know of similar experiences? If so, is it the time of year, a lot of people travelling, a bad bug abroad in the land -- or, as someone in my family speculates, the fox-guarding-the-henhouse mentality in Washington, with little effective regulation, has maybe compromised our standards of food safety?

sounds like a conspiracy to me.

but I have been worried about the Bush administration's failure to fulfill the basic role of government, which is protecting the health and safety of the people. I was just curious.

gastro-intestinal distress is not considered a symptom of influenza. Very few people experience it, but in the main, no. It could be a bacterial infection.

but they claimed it wasn't flu--I had my flu shot (YIPPEE!) Hope I don't get whatever they had; I HATE vertigo!

and since then most of my co-workers and/or their family members have had something nasty going on in their bellies. I don't know what is going on but I don't like it.

salmonella poisoning. Most, if not all, poultry is infected with this bacterium. Food safety is a must. Wash the bird, your hands and EVERYTHING the raw meat touched with hot water. Use bleach on the counters, etc.

I had a grilled chicken sandwich at Whataburger and that is who I am blaming.

likely to cause problems. Also if you can do without dairy, there are many delicious options. With so much going on in these industries, it is a good idea to consider.

I think we can say with some certainty that American beef, for example, if eaten, is eaten with a known risk for mad cow.

And if your produce is grown organically then you have to throughly wash it as well. Everything is a risk.

Everything is a risk, and one of the few things that can be controlled is what you put in your body.

In both cases microbial contamination is a possibility, with factory farmed produce one would hope you're washing at least some of the pesticides off, too.

If you mean covered in feces for fertilizer...

A lot of times, people who think they have the stomach flu actually have mild cases of E. Coli.

You do know in every bit of meat, there is a government allowed amount of poop, right? Plus the risk of Mad Cow now in the US and Canada...

I was in New York (Long Island)for the holidays. A number of people in my family (including me) came down with a nasty stomach flu. It's not food poisoning but rather another virus making the rounds. I flew back to Wisconsin last Friday and learned that the bug has appeared here too. It's winter, it happens.

1) You are more likely to get a food-borne illness from things prepared and eaten at home than at a restaurant.

2) During the holidays, people are eating at one another's homes, which is riskier than eating at a restaurant.

3) People are not only often eating too much, but also cooking too much. There is lots of left-over turkey, cake, and casseroles floating around.

4) People are drinking more alcohol, which means you're more likely to have stomach upset.

And for me, any kind of champagne (everything from a $10 bottle of Balatore to a $200 bottle of Dom or Crystal) makes me spend a great deal of time sitting on the toilet the next day.

Those are my theories, anyway.

A terrorist "diarrhea attack" would be much more serious, wide-spread and deadly than just a bunch of people getting the craps.

i worked at a restaurant.

i have read of severe food poisoning at two local famous restaurants. Profits first, costly safety, never.

eat only domestic canned foods or domestic food you have cooked yourself.

never touch the food with your fingers or touched spoons.

look up can companies at FDA site for repremands frm FDA. All 3 tuna canned co's are bad apples.

avoid crowds. Never eat out. Never eat at a friend's house. Avoid snack machines.

Live a long, lonely life LOL.

Didn't catch it here, rather I was in Asia in November and came down with the worst stomach/intestinal bug I've ever had. At least, that is what the doctors think it was. I had to go to a hospital while I was out of the country, then came back to DC and went for multiple visits to the doctor(s) where every possible test I can imagine was done. I even had an ultrasound done on my stomach and lower ab area just to be safe. They found exactly nothing, and no test came back positive or conclusive for anything - it is now assumed that either one of the countless medicines prescribed to me helped to get rid of it, or the damn bug just went away on it's own.

I am fine now I think, but it took over a month to fully recover. There were only a few days of massive discomfort, but I felt twinges of pain and irritation for several weeks.

This thing, at least for a time period of about 3 days, was horrible and almost totally debilitating. Massive stomach and intestinal cramps were the primary symptoms. Really freaked me out to be honest as lucklily, I've had few major medical problems so far and no significant digestive type issues. I've been travelling around the world for years and years and never had anything like this. Actually, I am still a little worried about it as no doctor has been able to convincingly tell me what I was dealing with.

I wonder if any medically knowlegable people here might venture a guess?

Imajika

It might be. My parents went to India last year and Dad picked up a nasty gut parasite. Took a month in the hospital on various meds to clean it up. Upside? He lost the weight his M.D. told him to <g>. Downside? He is 77 and it literally took a lot out of him. Was almost touch-and-go for a while. Check to see if there's a specialist in your area on tropical parasites. There was in my dad's town so he recognized the symptoms right away. However, if you are young and healthy it might not latch on the way it did w/my dad. But I would still get it checked out, if possible. Just FYI.:hurts:

I hadn't even thought of a parasite and no one has mentioned it. I was however in a tropical area, Thailand and Singapore, which I believe are known for such things. I have one final appointment, I hope, with a specialist in about a week and will ask him about it.

I am fairly young and in pretty good shape, but still lost about 12 pounds or so.

Thanks for your comments.

Imajika

And I don't get out much either. I'm in LA - so no connection to your Arian trip. Symptoms were identical to yours. So exact there's no point in repeating them.

It eventually went away on its own and I never did know what it was.




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"It eventually went away on its own and I never did know what it was."

I have been bothered by this because I've been worried that maybe it had nothing to do with a bug or virus, and perhaps was some internal problem.

Though I am sorry you had this miserable thing, I am sort of glad to hear that I wasn't alone and my symptoms were not unique. Sort of makes me feel that what I had wasn't terribly unusual and that maybe I have been worrying myself a little too much about it.

Thanks for your comments!

Imajika

I didn't know the "pure mountain stream water" was contaminated. Two and a half days later, I was unbelievably sick. Ultimately I had a fever of 105.

The doctor treated me with Flagyl and I got over it after about three weeks.

I was in China on a bicycle tour in 1983 and did fine for the three weeks there.

On the last day, and for a month afterward I had the same as you, including all kinds of tests to determine what ailed me.

They never did figure it out, and I've always wondered if I didn't have an amoeba we don't have a name for in English. :)

About a month ago it was reported in the media here in Seattle that there was a rash of stomach virus going around causing severe intestinal distress, diarrhea, cramping..... Apparently it's rather contagious with care takers of the inflicted frequently becoming it's next victim. It does go through a family like a freight train. It lasts about two days. It's important to keep yourself hydrated so drinking as much fluid as possible is vital to maintaining your health and speed recovery. Chicken or Vegetable broth, apple juice or tea are good to keep at hand in the event you get inflicted.

and confirms that some bad stuff is indeed "going around."

There really isn't such a thing, it's usually salmonella or E. coli or something. Or the Norwalk virus, which I had a lovely experience with last summer. On a camping trip, no less. Ick.

was epidemic here in Calgary about a month ago. It started in the large homeless shelter they have here. (Which is very nice, for a shelter, just saying). Fortunately, it's state of the art (the shelter, not the virus), so they were able to contain it (the virus, not the shelter, although the shelter was quarantined... oh dear, I'm starting to confuse myself) very rapidly. I think a lot of the health care professionals in this country learned a great deal from the SARS outbreak. It was very amazing to see how quickly they responded. Kudos to them! Anyway... to make a long story short <g> this could be the cause of the outbreak everywhere else. If you're reasonably young and healthy it goes away after about 24 hours. But it can kill (through dehydration etc.)

up here in Edmonton, too.

Haven't got it yet, but I'm expecting it considering it's making the rounds. The last time I had it was 2000, it was awful. x(

Wash up as often as possible. It may not keep it from you, but at keast you'll know you haven't passed it on to someone else.

from all the handwashing I've been doing. I'm going through soap and hand creme like crazy.

I remember the Drop-In Centre story, kinda sad. Norwalk sure went through some schools too, including the one Mrs. Ironflange teaches at. As for me, I sure caught something last summer, I think it was at a Boston Pizza in Vancouver. Camping in Parksville, a couple of days later, I spent a night pretty well as a basket case; it took about a week to get my strength back. I sure went through a lot of Gatorade.

I spent five hours vomiting last night and still have the "dire rears." Running a low grade fever (about 99.50) and massive headache. Material Girl has it too. Hubby had it last week...

This stuff is so wretched that dehydration is something you need to be concerned about. I've been slugging away at Gatorade and water all day.

Things are looking up, however, I actually felt hungry an hour or so ago. That usually indicates I'm on the backside of an upset stomach.

I guess I'm relieved to hear that it is out there making the rounds. I as beginning to worry that we are the "plague" house.


Laura

:)

i'm eating for the first time since 11 am yesterday morning, i'm having some toast.

i spent my day at work yesterday throwing up, but i couldn't leave, because i wouldnt' have felt right leaving only one person and the manager to close the restaraunt.

Just curious. With your illness, I sincerely hope you had absolutely no contact with the food being prepared and served.

wife and two kids all thew up last weekend, sticks around for days.

I was tired but didn't hurl.

from some bad tartar sauce at a truck stop "restaurant" (term used VERY loosely). Trust me, it wasn't anecdotal. Fortunately, it wasn't severe, either.