Campylobacter jejuni, a motile, curved S or spiral shaped Gram negative rod, microaerophilic, is a common cause of human gastrointestinal infection (Garvis et al., 1996).
Drinking water may be the common reservoir causing campylobacter infection in human and animals, including wild birds and poultry (Kapperud et al., 2003). Under coocked chicken seems to be linked with a great proportion of campylobacteriosis (Phillips et al., 1997). Poor hygienic conditions and the existence of animals in the house are also responsible for campylobacter infection (Rao et al., 2001).
The presence of garbage in cooking areas and deficiency of knowledge about the proper sanitary disposal of faeces are the leading risk factors behind getting this infection (Ghosh et al., 2013). Among other risk factors, red meat, unpasteurised milk, unwashed vegetables and fruit, wild bird faeces, compost and sewage are also important (Whiley et al., 2013).
Diarrhea is responsible for one child death out of nine children in the world which makes it the second contributing cause of death in children below the age of five. Annual death rate due to diarrhea in children under the age of five is 10% worldwide (Liu et al., 2012). Among 139 low and middle income countries including Pakistan 1.9 billion events of childhood diarrhea occured in 1990 and approximately 1.7 billion events in 2010 (Walker et al., 2012).
The European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control examined the data provided by 27 European Union Member states on the occurrence of zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in 2011. According to which campylobact...
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...) found the 8.3% incidence of campylobacter infection in 442 diarrheal children aged 0-72 months old.
Weinberger et al. (2013) studied the prevalence of campylobacter spp. infection in Israeli children during 1999-2010. The incidence of infection in children less than two years of age was 356.12 cases/100,000 population.
Mukherjee et al. (2013) studied the prevalence of campylobacter infection in diarrheal children hospitalized at Infectious Disease Hospital in Kolkata, India. 3,186 stool samples were screened during January 2008 to December 2010. The isolation rate of C.jejuni in children less than 5 years of age was significantly high upto 10.0%.
Lengerh et al. (2013) conducted a study in which 285 diarrheal children under the age of 5 years old were included. Among 285 fecal samples cultured, 44 (15.4%) of them were found positive for campylobacter jejuni.
Making H. pylori a vital microorganism to research in order to expand the study of microbiology and its interaction with humans. According to Blaser, the H. pylori “is a group of extremely varied strains cooperating and competing with one another. They compete for nutrients, niches in the stomach and protection from stresses.” There can be a variety of strains found in a single stomach, and even though they appear identical, their genes are very different.
Clostridium difficile, otherwise known as C. diff, is a species of spore-forming, anaerobic, gram-positive bacteria that is known to cause watery diarrhea. 1 The genus name, Clostridium refers to the spindle shape of the organism while Difficile means difficult in Latin due to the fact that this organism thrives in unfavorable conditions and is very difficult to isolate.4 The incidence of getting CDI has increased over the years due to new strains of increased toxin production of the bacteria and increased resistance to antibiotics.2 It is a gastrointestinal infection, and the most common cause of infectious diarrhea.1 C. difficile was first identified in the feces of healthy newborns back in the 1930’s and by 1935, it was considered normal flora. 2 During 1974, researchers conducted that about 21% of patients that were treated with an antibiotic called clindamyacin reported diarrhea and about 10% of them reported to have conducted pseudomembranous colitis as a side effect of this treatment. 2 It was in 1978 where C. diff had been known to cause anti-biotic associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. 2 It is known to form spores that resist many disinfectants; it also survives for several months on different surfaces.1 It is a common form of a nosocomial infection and the prevalence of becoming infected with C. diff is about 0-15% in a health care setting. 3 The spores survive well in environments such as soil, water and animals and is distributed worldwide. 4 CDI produces two toxins (Toxin A and B), which are cytotoxic and cause tissue necrosis.4
In crowded conditions, the rate of infection is even more rapid. The diseases brought over to America were mainly spread by the respiratory method. The pathogenesis of infection is through the ingestion of contaminated food and water. Throughout Europe during the 15th century, food and water were contaminated with fecal matter and by unsanitary habits ( i.e. the lack of bathing). The traumatic route of infection is through insect and animal bites.
Infection with C. perfringens as a food-borne illness is acquired from consumption of food or water that has come in contact with the bacterium. Some possibilities include unwashed fruits and vegetables, undercooked me...
Slack, John M. and I. S. Snyder. Bacteria and Human Disease. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, Inc., 1978.
Salmonella is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. It is a gram-negative, aerobic (oxygen requiring), rod-shaped bacterium that can infect humans, birds, reptiles, and other animals. It results in the swelling of the lining of the stomach and intestines. Salmonella food poisoning occurs worldwide, however it is most frequently reported in North America and Europe. In the United States, Salmonella is responsible for about 15% of all cases of food poisoning (Salmonella food poisoning).
Cholera is a deadly disease that has caused a worldwide phenomenon throughout history. Its imperative weapon, the Vibrio cholerae bacterium, has allowed cholera to seize control and wipe out a huge percentage of the human population. V. cholerae’s toxins are the primary causes of cholera’s lethal symptoms. The bacterium contains toxins that help it accomplish its job of invading the human system and defeating the body’s powerful immune system. With its sibling bacterium Escherichia coli, V. cholerae has become one of the most dominant pathogens in the known world. V. cholerae’s strategies in causing the infamous deadly diarrhea have been widely studied, from the irritation of the intestinal epithelium to the stimulation of capillary leakage, as well as the internal effects of the disease such as the Peyer’s patches on the intestinal walls. Overall, the Vibrio cholera bacterium has made cholera a tough disease to overcome, and because of its deadly virulence factors, cholera has become one of the most frightening diseases a human body could ever encounter.
In the Nepal’s example on the web, the child sickness was due to lack of education on food hygiene and lack of infrastructure (sanitation and drinking water). Thus, teaching the mother about treating water before drinking and the importance of hygiene in handling aliments would prevent the child diarrhea episode and even save the other son that died in the past from this disease.
Tamma, P. D., & Sandora, T. J. (2012). Clostridium difficile in children: current state and unaswered questions. Journal of Pediatric Infectious Diseases , 230-243.
Food-borne transmission refers to any illness that results due to the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as poisonous mushrooms (cdc.gov). Bacteria is the most often the pathogen that causes food-borne illness. This is usually due to improper handling of foods, improper preparation of food and improper food storage. According to the CDC, the top 5 contributing pathogens to food-borne illness are Norovirus, non-typhoidal Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter spp. and Staphylococcus aureus.
Cholera is still an extremely significant disease worldwide with over 5 million cases being reported per year (Ruiting & Reeves, 2002). Cholera is a diarrheal illness that progresses rapidly and is contracted by ingesting the bacterium Vibrio cholerae which causes an intestinal infection (CDC, 2013). In many cases the illness is mild with hardly any symptoms at all, but in some cases it can become severe. Approximately 5 percent of people who are infected exhibit severe symptoms such as extreme watery diarrhea, leg cramps, and vomiting (CDC, 2013). These symptoms usually occur at a rapid pace and unless treated can further lead to dehydration and shock which can ultimately cause death within hours. It is estimated that over 100,000 deaths occur each year around the world due to Cholera. (CDC, 2013)
A SWOT analysis of the food control system in Bahrain revealed that certain strengths and weaknesses are inherent in the system. In addition to the weaknesses and the strengths, there are threats that would negatively affect the system if not prevented or brought under control. Nevertheless, the there are opportunities available for responding to the threats, making the Bahrain food control systems more efficient and effective. It is therefore important that some or all of these strengths, opportunities, threats, and weaknesses are reviewed. Conspicuous among the weaknesses is the fact that limited resources are available for the agencies and the personnel employed in the Bahrain food control system. Related to lack of resources is the lack of skills and competencies in applying modern techniques, more so in microbiological and chemical analysis. The second weakness of the Bahrain food control system is that most of the laws and regulations on food safety and control are not based on risk- or science-based analysis. In other words, the laws could be outdated and irrelevant in comparison with the latest mechanisms by which pathogens and other contaminants affect foodstuffs (Nestle, 2007). Furthermore, Bahrain lacks the technical expertise or competent enough personnel who could assess the effectiveness and the applicability of their food control laws.
Ford-Jones, E. L., & Kellner, J. D. (1995). " CHEAP TORCHES": An acronym for congenital and perinatal infections. The Pediatric infectious disease journal, 14(7), 638-639.
Campylobacter is a bacterial pathogen that causes fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. It is the commonly identified bacterial cause of diarrhea illness in the world. These bacteria live in the intestines of birds, and most raw poultry meat has the bacteria in it. Eating undercooked chicken or other food that has been contaminated with the juices dripping from raw chicken is the most frequent source of this particular infection.
Infants, young children, elderly people, and people with underlying health conditions are most likely to get cholera because of their high risk of dehydration. On top of that, in areas with inadequate treatment of sewage and drinking water like Haiti, Southeast Asia, and Africa, cholera spreads very quickly. Cholera is a global disease that spreads to different countries by international travel or imported goods such as contaminated seafood. On a yearly basis, there are about 100,000...