foodborne illnesses at subway

8/12/2019 Foodborne Illnesses at Subway

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The Du Page County Illinois Health Department has reported 12 confirmed cases

of shigellosis

7 of this cases have required hospitalization

In November 1999 there were 18 confirmed cases of hepatitis A in Northeast

Seattle and Snohomish County, Washington

Surveys conducted by Public Health officials linked the cases with two Subway

Sandwich outlets.

An investigation later showed that neither of the two Subway outlets had written

hand washing policies and employees were not required to document proper hand

washing techniques.

It has been shown that over 40 persons became ill as a result of eating

contaminated food sold at the two Subway outlets. One child developed acute liver

failure and required a transplant; many others were hospitalized with severe

symptoms.


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Shigellosis

Shigellosis, also known as bacillary dysenteryor Marlow Syndrome, in its most

severe manifestation, is a food borne illness caused by infection by bacteria of the

genus Shigella.

The causative organism is frequently found in water polluted with human feces, and

is transmitted via the fecal-oral route.

The usual mode of transmission is directly person-to-person hand-to-mouth, in the

setting of poor hygiene among children

Symptoms may range from mild abdominal discomfort to full-

blown dysentery characterized by cramps, diarrhea, fever, vomiting, blood, pus, or

mucus in stools or tenesmus. Onset time is 12 to 50 hours.

Infections are associated mucosal ulceration, rectal bleeding, drastic dehydration;

fatality may be as high as 10-15% with some strains. Reiter's disease and hemolyticuremic syndrome are possible sequelae that have been reported in the aftermath of

shigellosis.


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Prevention

Simple precautions can be taken to prevent getting shigellosis: wash hands before

handling food and thoroughly cook all food before eating.

In addition to improved sanitation and hygiene, several vaccine candidates

for Shigella are in various stages of development. According to the World Health

Organization, candidates in development include live attenuated, conjugate,

ribosomal, and proteosome vaccines. There are promising results for a vaccine

against serotype 1, which otherwise show large resistance to antibiotics.


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Hepatitis A

Hepatitis A (formerly known as infectious hepatitis) is an acute infectious

disease of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus, an RNA virus, usually

spread the fecal-oral route; transmitted person-to-person by ingestion of

contaminated food or water or through direct contact with an infectious

person. Tens of millions of individuals worldwide are estimated to become

infected with Hep A each year. The time between infection and theappearance of the symptoms (the incubation period) is between two and six

weeks and the average incubation period is 28 days.

Early symptoms of hepatitis A infection can be mistaken for influenza, but

some sufferers, especially children, exhibit no symptoms at all. Symptoms

typically appear 2 to 6 weeks, (the incubation period), after the initialinfection.

Symptoms usually last less than 2 months, although some people can be ill for

as long as 6 months.

Symptoms include fatigue, fever, abdominal pain, nausea and appetite loss.


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Prevention

Hepatitis A can be prevented by vaccination, good hygiene and sanitation.

The vaccine protects against HAV in more than 95% of cases for longer than 20

years. It contains inactivated hepatitis A virus providing active immunity

against a future infection The vaccine was first phased in 1996 for children in

high-risk areas, and in 1999 it was spread to areas with elevating levels of

infection.

The vaccine is given by injection. An initial dose provides protection starting

two to four weeks after vaccination; the second booster dose, given six to

twelve months later, provides protection for over twenty years.

foodborne illnesses at subway

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