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By Kate Halim
When Amarachi Chiemela was coming home from the gym one warm, beautiful Saturday morning, she was captured by the aroma of party jollof rice. It was emanating from a shop nearby. She had to stop to buy some because she wasn’t in the mood to cook that day.
“I couldn’t resist the aroma of that party jollof rice coming from a shop across the street. I crossed to the side of the road and traced it to a buka (local canteen) where a middle-aged woman was dishing food to her customers. I bought enough to last me for the day and then happily walked home,” Chiemela said.
But fate had other things in store for Chiemela. She didn’t know that she would spend the night in the hospital after consuming the food.
Chiemela, a 24-year-old lady who lives with her younger sister told Saturday Sun that two hours after eating the food, she started having stomach cramps. It was so severe that a point, she was rolling on her bed and wincing in pain.
The online business owner said she took pain relievers and waited to get some relief but it only got worse. She said she started vomiting afterwards and that was when she knew she was going through something serious.
“It was at that point I knew that something was wrong. I called my sister and begged her to get a bike for me so I could get to the hospital. I felt like I was dying. When I got to the hospital, I was treated for food poisoning and had to spend the night at the facility,” she added.
When Mr. Edwin Efosa bought some fruits on his way home from work recently, he didn’t envisage what would happen to him after consuming them. It was an unforgettable experience according to him and one that made him realise how fickle life was.
The father of three said he bought some fruits in traffic because he made a decision to eat fruits at night so as to watch his weight. He stated that even though it wasn’t the first time he bought fruits from a particular vendor, it was his last because of what happened next.
“I got home from work, took my bath, washed the fruits and ate them. Hours later, it felt as if someone was tightening my stomach. I tried to ignore how I was feeling but it got worse by the minute. I started feeling feverish and nauseous,” he said.
His wife noticed he was uncomfortable and asked what was wrong. He told her about the fruits he ate and how he started feeling sick afterwards. He told Saturday Sun that his wife rushed to a nearby pharmacy to buy him some drugs.
Efosa added that it took him three days to fully recover from that food poisoning episode. He said these days, he was being careful about buying food or fruits anyhow. He also said that after that scary experience, he had taken it upon himself to educate the people around him about the dangers of food poisoning.
Wisdom Edet is a plumber based in Lagos. The young man said he suffered food poisoning some time ago, noting that the experience wasn’t funny. Edet recalled that he felt like he was dying and was rushed to the hospital where he vomited twice during treatment.
Recounting what happened, Edet said he ate the left over sandwich he made the night before because he was running late for an appointment. He said he didn’t think anything bad would happen until he started experiencing stomach cramps that made him unable to sit or stand.
“When I went to see my client to fix his bathroom, I was feeling pain in my stomach. I waved it aside thinking it was something mild. It was when I couldn’t sit or stand that I knew something serious was going on. I was rushed to a nearby chemist and I was given some drugs,” Edet said.
Edet revealed that he felt better the next day but the experience shook him. He said that he was lucky he had people around him to help him and wondered what could have happened to him if he were home alone or the episode started in the middle of the night.
Mrs. Linda Nwankwo was hospitalised after consuming food she bought from an eatery in her area in Lagos. The mother of two told Saturday Sun that the whole thing happened so fast that she didn’t believe she would be alive to tell her story.
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Nwankwo said she bought food one afternoon from an eatery in her area because she was too tired to cook. She said she enjoyed the food and even decided to start patronising the eatery. She added that hours later, she realised she had made a big mistake.
Said According to Nwankwo, “Everything happened so fast that I forgot about how I enjoyed the food that was obviously causing me so much stomach discomfort. I had to call my doctor and he told me to come immediately to the hospital for check up.”
After a physical examination and answering some questions at the hospital, Nwankwo realised she’s suffering from food poisoning. She said she was happy she got help on time and advised herself to be careful about buying cooked food.
Food poisoning at a glance
Dr. Gabriel Omonaiye said food poisoning is the illness that comes from the consumption of food that is contaminated with either bacteria or viruses, parasites or toxins. He added that it is a food borne disease which is usually mild to moderate, but could be severe occasionally.
According to him, infectious organisms including bacteria, viruses and parasites or other toxins are the most common causes of food poisoning. This is because infectious organisms can contaminate food at any point of processing. He said that contamination can also occur at home if food is incorrectly handled or cooked.
Omonaiye explained further: “Food poisoning symptoms, which can start within hours of eating contaminated food, often include nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea. Most often, food poisoning is mild and resolves without treatment. But some people need to go to the hospital.”
He added that the symptoms of food poisoning can be systemic involving the gastrointestinal system or constitutional – involving the whole body.
“The gastrointestinal symptoms include abdominal cramps, bloating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort, indigestion, poor appetite, watery or bloody diarrhoea and fever. The constitutional symptoms are fever, chills /cold, headaches, weakness, body pain, dizziness and reduced urine production due to dehydration,” Omonaiye said.
He however noted that sometimes, food poisoning could present itself with bloody diarrhoea and kidney failure because of haemolytic uraemic syndrome.
According to Omonaiye, treatment for food poisoning could be mild and supportive which include taking adequate fluids and water to rehydrate and other supportive measures for the mild ones.
However, Omonaiye said that for the severe cases, hospital admission and laboratory investigations are needed. This is more so in our environment where late presentation to the hospital is unfortunately the norm.
The medical practitioner said that classification of food poisoning can be made based on the causative organism eg.: Salmonella food poisoning, Staphyloccal food poisoning, Cambylobacter food poisoning, Toxoplasma gondii food poisoning etc.
In conclusion, Omonaiye said that generally, the prevention of food poisoning is based on good personal and food hygiene such as washing of hands after using the toilet and before eating.
He said: “Food vendors should be compelled to do the Food Handlers Tests regularly, and if found to be sick or carriers of disease-causing pathogens, should be benched, treated and certified fit before they can resume food vending. But this is a tall order in Nigeria as of now.”
The avoidance of eating raw, poorly cooked and badly preserved food is a key preventive measure when it comes to food poisoning, Omonaiye said.
