How Long Does Food Poisoning Last

How long does food poisoning last?

Food poisoning is caused by consumption of contaminated food item and is detected as a food borne disease. This is a very common form of flu like symptom amongst children and people who are in their mid 50’s. How long does food poisoning last in the body? Mostly it takes about 2-3 days for it to last depending upon the symptoms. Any longer than this the patient might need to get the necessary test done to determine the exact cause of it. The various symptoms of food poisoning are vomiting, cramps in the stomach, diarrhea and fever. How long does the food poisoning symptom last for? These symptoms in moderate cases can last for about a day or two.

How long does food poisoning last in the body? The duration of the food poison can depend upon the severity of the contaminated food. The exact time span of the incubation period, where incubation is the time from the consumption of the contaminated food till the first sign of food poisoning, this period of time in between is the incubation period of the bacteria that triggered the poisoning. How long does this incubation period last for? This directly depends on the first sign of the symptom. There are two main types of food poisoning:

Fast Developing Food Poisoning Bacteria – Of all the food poisoning occurrences there are few where the incubation period is faster which in turn results in a fast developing food poison. One form of such fast developing food poison is Staphylococcus aureus. This form of food poisoning is affected with the consumption of seafood, food items that are high in salt, meat and many more. How long does this kind of poisoning take to occur? This type of food poisoning can take about 3-6 hours after the consumption of the contaminated food. Another similar form of bacteria is the Clostridium Botulinum and is mostly found in the preservative based food items. This form of bacteria is much dangerous in comparison to Staphylococcus aureus. As when affected with this form of food poisoning one can experience respiratory illness to even chances of death.

Slow Developing Food Poisoning Bacteria – This form of bacteria affected food poisoning tends to show the initial signs much later. One such slow developing bacterium is Salmonella. This form of bacteria is mostly found in food items rich in protein or either the ones which are partially or undercooked which includes poultry items, fish and meat. How long does this take to show the initial symptom? The initial symptoms of this type of food poisoning are nausea, fever and vomiting which start to occur in a few hours after consumption of the contaminated food. Another slow developing food poisoning bacterium is Vibrio Parahaemolyticus. This is usually found in seafood. And the symptoms of this type of bacteria infected food poisoning are cramps and fever.

The major side effect of food poisoning is excessive dehydration. The best way to restore energy levels in your body during this period is to have adequate intake of fluids and follow a liquid diet. How long does one continue a liquid diet for? Post food poisoning one needs to follow the liquid diet for at least a week in case of a mild food poisoning.