How is food poisoning treated?
Yourdoctor will narrow down the diagnosis by asking you what you ate. And if others who ate the same food suffered from the same symptoms. Sometimes, food allergies and infections can mimic the symptoms of food poisoning. In some cases, stool samples might be taken to detect the organism that caused the disease. Once the diagnosis is confirmed, mild illnesses can be treated by increasing fluid intake, either orally or intravenously. Bismuth subsalicylate preparations can decrease the severity of the diarrhoea. However, avoid takinganti-diarrhoeal medicationsif there is high fever or blood is present in the stools because they can worsen the illness. Do not be surprised if you are not prescribed antibiotics.Most cases are caused by viruses and will improve in two or three days. Antibiotics do not work on viruses anyway. Mild bacterial infections too do not merit antibiotic therapy. Complications include kidney damage due to dehydration. This is extremely rare in cases that are picked up
