Academic Master

Medical

Campylobacter and other GI Infections including Viral

Consumption of undercooked food increases the risk for getting sick from salmonella bacteria. Like salmonella bacteria, campylobacter is a common type of bacteria which can infect people when they consume undercooked poultry meat. Campylobacter leads to a condition known as campylobacteriosis which is characterized by diarrhea and other serious complications of the gastrointestinal tract. Although campylobacter infection can strike anyone at any age, it is most prevalent in infants and children. Males are more susceptible to females. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about 1.5 individuals in the United States are infected with campylobacter every year (Wagenaar, J. A. et al. 2015, p.163). These statistics do not include individuals are never officially diagnosed or who do not report their symptoms. This paper seeks to discuss causes and symptoms of campylobacter as well as expectations from my local healthcare department and available resources to the general public.

Causes

Campylobacter bacteria infects an individual if he or she consumes undercooked food or if a person eats food which has touched undercooked or raw poultry. The campylobacter lives bacteria live in the digestive system of animals such as poultry and cattle. Also, unpasteurized milk can harbor these bacteria and serve as a potential reservoir. In developing countries, the bacteria can be found in sewage and water system (Colles et al. 2016).

Symptoms

When an individual eats food contaminated with campylobacter, the symptoms start within a 2-4 days. The most common symptoms associated with campylobacter is diarrhea. The stool may contain stains of blood in it. The infected person may be vomiting and experience other stomach complications. Other signs of campylobacter include fever, bloating, and belly cramps. The bacteria can lead to other serious infection in the bloodstream especially when not treated on time (Colles et al. 2016).

What my local health department wants me to do in my community

As a nursing student, my local health department wants me to provide health education on prevention of campylobacteriosis in my community. The most effective way to prevent campylobacteriosis is proper cooking of poultry meet preferably at a minimum temperature of 165F. I would encourage the population in my community to avoid chicken meet that looks undercooked. The recommended ways of knocking out campylobacter in foods which have been contaminated are heating foods and pasteurizing dairy products. Other measures which I will emphasize in the community education program include:

  • Washing hands before cooking and after handling raw meat or poultry.
  • Keeping uncooked poultry and meat away from other foods such as vegetable by using separate cooking surfaces, utensils, and cutting boards.
  • Ensuring anyone with diarrhea washes his or her hands after visiting the toilet.

Available resources to the general public

Most people get over the campylobacter infection without medical attention or other forms of special treatment (Colles et al.2016). There is a variety of resources available to the general public for treatment and prevention of campylobacter. For instance, healthcare facilities provide healthcare for individuals infected with this bacteria. Community health nurse also provide education programs about prevention and treatment of bacterial infection resulting from contamination of food including campylobacter.

Available resources to healthcare workers

Healthcare providers will often first try levaquin (levofloxacin) to treat campylobacter infection. Levaquin is a first-line drug which is mostly recommended for treatment of campylobacteriosis (Wagenaar, J. A. et al. 2015, p.163). The health care workers can also prescribe other common antibiotics used to treat other forms of bacterial infections such as salmonella. Besides, agencies such as World Heal Organization (WHO) provide community health workers with resources for educating the general public on prevention of common infections including campylobacter (Pogreba-Brown, Baker, & Weiss, 2016).

References

Colles, F. et al. (2016). Monitoring chicken flock behavior provides early warning of infection by human pathogen Campylobacter. Proc. R. Soc. B, 283(1822), 20152323.

Pogreba-Brown, K., Baker, & Weiss, J. (2016). Assessing risk factors of sporadic Campylobacter infection: a case-control study in Arizona. Epidemiology & Infection, 144(4), 829-839.

Wagenaar, J. A., Newell, D. G., Kalupahana, R. S., & Mughini-Gras, L. (2015). Campylobacter: animal reservoirs, human infections, and options for control. In Zoonosis-infections affecting humans and animals (pp. 159-177). Springer Netherlands.

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