How to prevent intestinal infections

Acute intestinal infections are a large group of diseases that occur with signs of intoxication and damage to the gastrointestinal tract. The most common ones are dysentery, salmonellosis, foodborne toxicity, rotavirus, and enterovirus infections.

  The source of infection is a sick person.

How do you get infected with intestinal infections?

The transmission of infectious agents is primarily caused by contaminated water, contaminated food, dirty hands and household items, and insects that contaminate food. The causative agents of acute intestinal infections enter the body through the human mouth and actively multiply in the gastrointestinal tract, causing disease manifestations. When they are released from the patient's intestines, they enter the environment: soil, water, food, and household items.

The most characteristic feature of most acute intestinal infections is the ability of pathogens to survive outside the human body for a relatively long time. The warm season is the most favorable time for the emergence and spread of intestinal infections. Warm weather creates favorable conditions for the preservation of pathogens in the environment and for their reproduction in water and food. It is at this time that factors that contribute to infection are in place: swimming in open water, increased thirst, the appearance of fresh berries, vegetables, and fruits in the diet, an increase in the number of flies, mass communication, and traveling outside the permanent place of residence. The destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, large-scale flooding and drainage of large areas, fish pestilence, lack of quality drinking water, and other consequences pose a threat to the massive spread of HAI.

Signs of the disease.

The causative agents of acute intestinal diseases and their toxins affect not only the gastrointestinal tract but also the central nervous system. In most patients, body temperature rises, the gastrointestinal tract and cardiovascular system are disrupted, and the liver, spleen, and other internal organs are often affected. The symptoms of these diseases may differ: while dysentery, for example, is more characterized by diarrhea, typhoid fever is more common.

To prevent infection, the following rules should be followed

use only boiled water for drinking;
Do not drink water from random water sources, water supply systems intended for technical purposes, wells, and shallow boreholes;
take water for cooking and household needs only from proven water sources;

boil or otherwise disinfect water taken for drinking, washing fruit, berries, or dishes from sources where the water quality is unknown, including open water bodies;
milk (both raw and pasteurized flask milk) must be boiled;
Wash vegetables, fruits, and berries thoroughly in running water, using a brush and laundry soap, or pour boiling water over them;
use different boards for cutting different types of food;
do not eat foods that are questionable in terms of their healthiness;
strictly observe the terms of use and storage conditions of food products;
cover all food products from insects, keep food waste in containers with a lid, and destroy flies;
wash hands thoroughly with soap and water, especially before preparing and eating food, after returning from the street, using the toilet, contamination, if this is not possible, use disinfectants, and wet disinfectant wipes.
         Botulism is an acute toxic infectious disease caused by the toxin of the clostridium botulinum bacterium, which affects the nervous system. A severe form of the disease can be fatal.

         Human infection with botulism occurs when eating fruits, vegetables, improperly preserved foods, and fish contaminated with clostridia.

It is impossible to distinguish infected products from quality ones. The risk zone includes dried, smoked, and salted fish, home-canned mushrooms, canned meat and fish, and homemade sausage.

In Ukraine, cases of botulism are mainly caused by the consumption of dried fish.

Most often, the causative agent of botulism is found in fish entrails, from which the toxin penetrates the meat. Therefore, it is most dangerous to eat meat near the ribs and caviar.

A sick person is dangerous to others because of the excretion of the bacterium in feces and vomit.

Symptoms of botulism often appear gradually, there are no sharp fever spikes, so patients do not understand the seriousness of the disease.

 One of the first signs of botulism is visual impairment - the patient is disturbed by "fog" in front of the eyes, double vision, and difficulty reading, which is associated with paralysis of the eye muscles. At the same time, there is dry mouth, difficulty speaking, the voice fades or disappears, and swallowing disorder - all this occurs when the swallowing muscles are affected.

There may be short-term signs of disorders: nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

In severe cases, respiratory failure develops, leading to death.

Prevention of this disease is:

- careful adherence to home canning techniques for vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, meat, and proper washing of sand and soil residues;

- do not eat canned meat and fish if the tin is swollen or deformed;

- heat canned food to 100°C for 30 minutes before eating;

- do not buy dried, smoked, salted and canned fish prepared at home from private individuals;

- avoid consuming products if there are doubts about their quality.

At the slightest suspicion of HAI, immediately contact the State Institution "TMA of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Chernihiv Oblast" or your family doctor!!!!

The memo was developed by the Infection Control Department on 14.06.2023.