After the college entrance examination, be careful of the hidden things in seafood

After the college entrance examination, you can relax your tense nerves. Many people choose to have a big meal. At this time, fish and shrimp are indispensable. So when facing the plump seafood, in addition to eating a lot, we also need to pay attention to the Vibrio parahaemolyticus hidden in the seafood, which is a master at causing diarrhea. So what kind of bacteria is so powerful? Let us learn about it together.

Vibrio parahaemolyticus was isolated and discovered in 1950 from an outbreak of food poisoning in Japan. In nature, the bacterium mainly grows in warm and low-salinity waters in marine and estuarine environments. It can be found in seafood such as fish and shellfish, causing food poisoning. The infection is distributed all over the world and is the primary factor causing microbial food poisoning in my country's coastal areas.

Since it is the primary factor causing food poisoning in coastal areas, people traveling to coastal areas should be more vigilant.

It is salt-loving and can survive in seawater for 47 days. It is not heat-resistant and will be killed in 1 minute at 90℃; it is not acid-resistant and will die in 1 minute at 1% acetic acid or 50% vinegar.

So how does it make people sick?

Eating improperly cooked seafood (including crabs, shrimps, shellfish, oysters and clams), salted products, or food containers or cutting boards that are contaminated with this bacteria can all lead to oral infection and cause illness.

The incubation period is 5-72 hours, with an average of 17 hours. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and low fever are present. The stool is mostly watery, and a few are bloody. It is generally self-limiting, with an average of 2-3 days, and recovery is relatively fast. Severe diarrhea can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. Wounds contacting seawater contaminated with Vibrio parahaemolyticus can also cause cellulitis. In cases of severe infection or those with liver disease, diabetes or alcoholism, the bacteria can spread to the blood and cause sepsis. Immunity is not strong after the disease, and repeated infections may occur.

It seems that it is still highly pathogenic, so how to prevent and treat it?

Do not eat raw oysters or other shellfish and avoid contact of wounds with seawater. However, there is currently no effective vaccine to prevent this.

Acute gastroenteritis caused by Vibrio parahaemolyticus has a short course and is mainly treated symptomatically. Severe cases require intravenous water and electrolyte supplementation. Patients with severe gastroenteritis, wound infection and sepsis can be treated with antibacterial drugs such as doxycycline, minocycline and third-generation cephalosporins.

It can be seen that the first thing we need to do to avoid bacteria is to cook it thoroughly. If you cook seafood at home, you should also keep raw and cooked seafood on separate cutting boards. When you go out to play, you should also pay attention to grilling seafood for a little longer. After all, seafood is delicious no matter how it is cooked.

I wish every candidate can achieve good results, and everyone can have a healthy body, so that the microorganisms that destroy body functions will have nowhere to hide.

References in this article are from the ninth edition of Medical Microbiology