Learning More About Food Poisoning
A litigation attorney may be able to help if you experience food poisoning. Food poisoning can occur as the result of viruses, bacteria or parasites. At any point during the food handling or preparation process, contamination is possible, including cross-contamination. Depending on the organism responsible for your food poisoning, it might take as long as eight days to experience symptoms with organisms, such as E. coli. Hepatitis A might take as long as a month. However, others can cause symptoms quite quickly, such as Staphylococcus aureus causing symptoms within one to six hours.
Symptoms of Food Poisoning
The symptoms will depend on the organism that is responsible for the poisoning. However, there are some common symptoms that people experience with most of the organisms:
- Nausea
- Watery diarrhea
- Fever
- Vomiting
- Abdominal cramps and pain
- Headaches
- Loss of appetite
- Weakness
Dehydration might occur as a result of the symptoms, specifically diarrhea, and vomiting. It is important to replace fluids to prevent this complication.
Treating Food Poisoning
Doctors will begin by determining the organism causing the food poisoning so they can target the treatment. Doctors usually do this with a stool sample and blood work. It is also important to tell the doctor about all food and traveling in the last 30 days.
If your food poisoning is due to a bacteria, it is common for a doctor to prescribe antibiotics. This is especially true if your symptoms are severe. Replacing fluids is also a critical part of the treatment process. If your case is severe, hospitalization might be necessary. If not, your doctor will recommend home treatment that focuses on your symptoms. These medications could be used to reduce your fever, nausea, nd diarrhea. Depending on the organism causing your food poisoning, it could take several weeks to recover fully.
Contacting a Litigation Attorney for Food Poisoning
You can plainly see that food poisoning can be very unpleasant at the very least. You will usually require at least some rest to recover from it. If you think that the restaurant in which you experienced food poisoning could be liable, you should consider contacting a litigation attorney to determine if you might be able to take legal action against the restaurant.