About campylobacteriosis

What is campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacteriosis is an infection caused by bacteria you can get from contaminated food and water. It causes diarrhea. You might also hear it called campylobacter, campylobacter infection, or campylobacteriosis gastroenteritis.

When people worry about eating undercooked chicken, they usually focus on getting sick from salmonella bacteria. But another common type of bacteria called campylobacter can also make you ill if you eat poultry that isn’t fully cooked.

Like a salmonella infection, campylobacteriosis can cause diarrhea and sometimes other serious complications.

Infants and children have a greater chance than adults for campylobacter infection, but it can strike anyone at any age. Men are also more likely than women to get infected. It’s more common in summer than winter.

What are the symptoms for campylobacteriosis?

Septicemia symptom was found in the campylobacteriosis condition

The infection usually lasts about a week. If you’ve been infected, symptoms start within a couple of days of eating the infected food. They may include: 

Some people never have symptoms. 

What are the causes for campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacter bacteria can get into your system if you eat undercooked poultry or food that has touched raw or undercooked poultry.

What are the treatments for campylobacteriosis?

Most people get over the infection without medicine or special treatments. Drink lots of fluids while you have diarrhea.

Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, don’t take anything to prevent vomiting and diarrhea. That’s your body’s way of getting rid of the infection.

Campylobacteriosis medications

If your immune system is weak, your doctor might prescribe medicine to fight the infection:

  • Azithromycin (Zithromax, Zmax) is usually the first antibiotic your doctor will try.
  • Ciprofloxacin (Cetraxal, Ciloxan, Cipro) or levofloxacin (Levaquin) are other options. 

Antibiotic resistance and campylobacteriosis

You might hear the term antibiotic resistance when people talk about campylobacter. Infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria (that means they no longer respond to some of the drugs used to treat them) can be harder to treat, can last longer, and can cause more severe illness.

What are the risk factors for campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacteriosis is a very common infection and affects a large population in New York state every year.

  • About 1.5 billion people in the US get sick with this infection every year.
  • It is an infection that causes diarrhea in a person.
  • This infection is mostly seen in the months of summer.
  • Also, this infection is mostly found in infants and young adults and in males more than females.
  • Campylobacteriosis can be spread by consuming contaminated food or water or coming in close contact with infected animals. Eating undercooked poultry meat or eggs may also cause this infection.
  • If you consume unpasteurized, raw milk it may contain Campylobacter (the bacteria) and infect the person.


Risk factors for campylobacteriosis

There can be multiple complications or risk factors arising due to the campylobacteriosis infection. Although these complications are rare, it is likely that it may affect people with this infection. The several complications include:

  • Infected people developing arthritis.
  • Some people may develop a rare disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome.
  • This syndrome causes the body’s immune system to damage the nerves in the body.
  • It may also cause muscle weakness and develop into paralysis
  • People with weak immune systems, the bacteria may spread to their bloodstream and cause a serious life-threatening infection.


Conditions
Urinary tract infections,Meningitis,Septicemia,Guillain Barre syndrome
Drugs
Chloramphenicol,Ciprofloxacin,Erythromycin,Norfloxacin,Tetracycline
Symptoms
Diarrhea which could be bloody,Cramping,Abdominal pain,Fever,Nausea,Vomiting, etc

Is there a cure/medications for campylobacteriosis?

Campylobacteriosis or Campylobacter infection is caused by Campylobacter bacteria. It is a usual cause of diarrheal illness caused by a bacterium in the US.

People are likely to get Campylobacteriosis by consuming undercooked or raw poultry. They can also get the infection from eating other food such as seafood and meat or by drinking untreated water.

Treatment

  • The most common treatment for Campylobacteriosis is azithromycin therapy using the drugs Zmax or Zithromax. This primary antibiotic choice possesses a regimen of about 500 mg/d for 3 days. Conversely, if the patient is bacteremic, azithromycin treatment is extended to 2 weeks.
  • Erythromycin is evident to be the classic choice of Campylobacteriosis treatment. This is due to the low resistance of erythromycin. It can also be used in children and pregnant women.
  • Ciprofloxacin, such as Ciloxan, Cetraxal, or Cipro; and levofloxacin, such as Levaquin are other antibiotic treatment options for Campylobacteriosis.
  • In the majority of the cases, people with Campylobacteriosis recover without antibiotic treatment. However, the patients need to drink extra fluids till the end of diarrhea.
  • People at risk for severe illness require antibiotic treatment. These individuals are elderly people above 65 years of age, people with a weak immune system, and pregnant women.


Conditions
Urinary tract infections,Meningitis,Septicemia,Guillain Barre syndrome
Drugs
Chloramphenicol,Ciprofloxacin,Erythromycin,Norfloxacin,Tetracycline
Symptoms
Diarrhea which could be bloody,Cramping,Abdominal pain,Fever,Nausea,Vomiting, etc

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