Food Poisoning

The

Dodgy Barbecue
 How bacteria enters the body and what barriers it faces
Bacterium can enter your body in infinity ways, in this particular example the
microorganisms went from the uncooked beef burgers to the mouth. Since the beef
burgers weren't cooked properly, none of the bacteria were killed which resulted in food
poisoning. Some other ways of bacteria getting into your body are through your nose,
open wounds and eyes. When the salmonella entered the guest's bodies, they faced a
major barrier; the stomach. Gastric juice in the stomach is exceedingly acidic which will
kill any harmful bacteria that enters within 15 minutes. (While your stomach acid is
trying to kill bacteria you could vomit and have stomach pains, which is common).
However, if the bacteria survives the stomach acid and gets past, it has a high chance of
getting into the intestines. If salmonella somehow gets into the small and large intestines,
it colonizes the intestinal mucosa and proliferates. This can become sever and eventually
spread to the bloodstream.
 How bacteria reproduces in the digestive system
Salmonella reproduces by a process called binary fission. In this
process when bacteria have enough nutrients, they divide. The
DNA doubles, the cell splits in half and the offspring cells are
cloned. How bacteria reproduces is in the table below which is
estimated. This was made by: first researching the number of
bacteria in 1 gram of a beef patty which is 1 million. An average
beef patty weighs 120g so the raw and uncooked center would
approximately be 35g. According to the situation, the guests had
a bite of the burger which included a tiny bit of the middle. This
bit was estimated to be 1 gram. So, the bacteria proliferated from
1 million to 8 million in just an hour. Which becomes 64 million
in 2 hours and as shown
in the table, 24
hours later, it Time (mins) 20 mins 40 mins 60 mins 2 hours 1 day
becomes a lot!
Number of 2 million 4 million 8 million 64 million 4.7223665e+
Bacteria 27
 What the body can do to fight the infection
Some types of white blood cells such as phagocytes and lymphocytes can sense antigens which
is a molecule on salmonella. To kill pathogens, lymphocytes produce antibodies which attach
to the bacteria. The antibodies then make it easier for phagocytes to find the bacteria, stick the
bacteria together and cause enzymes to split open the cell's membrane. However, phagocytes
attack and trigger immune responses differently. They move towards the pathogen as soon as
they recognize it and engulf it whole. Enzymes destroy the pathogen eventually and the
harmless parts of the bacteria leave the cell's body. When the bacteria went through the mouth,
the body has several ways of reacting to it. The guests' bodies responded to this infection in
order to get rid of the bacteria by vomiting, having diarrhea and distressing stomach pains. All
of these are common symptoms and occur because of the infection which becomes
inflammation in your stomach and intestines. Vomiting specifically is caused by bacteria
blocking the flow of bile which causes a build-up of bile and inflammation of the gall-bladder.
Ways food poisoning can be prevented
Food poisoning can be prevented/minimized by:
accurately cooking food (especially meat) to the
right temperature, thoroughly washing hands and
other utensils regularly (especially before and after
cooking/eating), refrigerate perishable food within 2
hours, avoid cross-contamination and to not consume
foods that either have an abnormal odor or a spoiled
taste. A dissimilar way food poisoning can be averted
is by keeping your refrigerator at 4.4°C which is
useful because food is safer at lower temperatures
like this.
REFRENCING

Medline Plus - Link A.D.A.M Inc is authorized by URAC National Library of Medicine - Link

Food Safety - FoodSafety Link Infection with salmonella -Link

A federal government website managed by the U.S.
Department of Health & Human Services BYJU'S Link

Aviv Service Today - Link

Writer - Ofer Hubara Director of Operations

Pedia - Link
Author-Lakna, a graduate in Molecular
Biology & Biochemistry
National Library of Medicine - Link
Author – IQWiG (Institute for Quality
and Efficiency in Health Care)