Anyone can get food poisoning. But some people are more likely to get sick from food poisoning than others. It partly depends on how much of the toxin you ingest. Your overall health also plays a role.
Even with sanitary food handling practices, there’s usually a small amount of germs in your food. Your immune system fends off minor infections like these all the time, without you even knowing about it. When your immune system gets overloaded, that’s when the toxins in your food become “poisonous.” This means your body has to produce a bigger reaction to remove the germ or toxin.
You may be more likely to get sick from food poisoning — or have a more severe reaction to it — if your immune system isn’t as strong as average. Many things can impact your immunity, including:
- Age: Children under the age of 5 have immature immune systems. Mature immune systems begin to decline after the age of 65.
- Pregnancy: Pregnancy is demanding on your body, leaving you with fewer resources than usual to fight off infections.
- Chronic illnesses: Many chronic conditions can affect your immunity. Infections, cancer, immunodeficiency diseases and autoimmune diseases are a few.
- Medications: Corticosteroids and immunosuppressants can repress your immune system. This makes it easier for you to catch germs.
Food poisoning complications
Complications from food poisoning are rare. But they can be severe and, sometimes, even fatal. Severe dehydration is the most common complication. You lose a lot of water and electrolytes with frequent vomiting and diarrhea. And it can be hard to drink enough fluids to replace them. Some of the infections that you can get through food poisoning can also cause other complications. These can include:
- Miscarriage and stillbirth: Listeria infection is especially dangerous for growing fetuses. The bacteria can cause neurological damage and even death.
- Kidney damage: E. coli can lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and kidney failure.
- Arthritis: Salmonella and campylobacter bacteria can cause chronic arthritis and joint damage.
- Nervous system and brain damage: Some bacteria or viruses can cause a brain infection called meningitis. Others can cause a neurological disorder called Guillain-Barré syndrome.
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