Food poisoning

Overview

Pathology, infection is the penetration into the body of a pathogen such as a fungus, a bacterium, a protozoan, a virus or a toxin, possibly produced by some of these agents. The degree of infection and severity of symptoms depends on several factors, including:

• Type and strain of microorganism: Some species and strains are more vulnerable than others.
• Intake: A high dose, the symptoms are more severe and the incubation period is short.
• Immune system of the host: In children, the elderly, hospital patients and pregnant women, the immune system is weak.

Infectious agents may enter the body in different ways: through the respiratory tract, the urinary tract, digestive tract, the wounds of the skin, etc.. Poisoning and foodborne illness are special cases of infection where infectious agents are transmitted by food.

We are talking about food poisoning when a person eats a food containing bacterial toxins or mycotoxins (mold toxins). The term is also used for poisoning due to ingestion of food containing heavy metals or toxic chemical (pesticides, food additives, ...). That is why we prefer to use the term "food intoxination" refers only to food poisoning of microbial origin (bacterial toxins and mycotoxins).

As for the food poisoning (FP), it corresponds to the intake of food containing pathogenic micro-organisms including bacteria, viruses or parasites.

A collective food poisoning (CFP) is an infectious disease notifiable, which occurs when there is "at least two groups, with similar events due to contamination by micro-organisms (bacteria in general ) or a toxin.. The largest food-borne illness collective are "food crisis".

In this paper, we present the main poisoning and foodborne disease, whether bacterial, viral, parasitic or caused by ingestion of food containing biogenic amines and mycotoxins.

Document content

The paper on poisoning and food poisoning consists of the following chapters: