Gridlock Mikey

Sales man is trying it on reckons he's been signed off for the rest of the week. Said he'd try and come back into work tomorrow, but I reckon it's cos the works do is on Friday.

Can you get over it in 1 day?

Mikey

jpmason33

I had a bad case of this once, it wiped me out for 4 days

Things coming out of both ends if you get my meaning.

A bad case will mean that anything you eat comes straight back up, makes u very weak as you struggle to retain water and you become very dehydrated.

Nicks VR4

This should cover it

Gastro-Enteritis (Diarrhoea and vomiting)
This is a very common condition. It is also often called FOOD POISONING.

In gastro-enteritis the infecting organism initially gets into the stomach. Usually it is delivered there via food but it can also be delivered there in unclean water supplies (e.g. cholera in India, but also in epidemics in Glasgow and other big cities before clean water supplies were created)



In the stomach the bug irritates the stomach lining and the result of this is severe vomiting. This usually clears up within 24 hours.

The bug then moves down the gut to the ileum (small bowel) and colon (large bowel). Here it causes secretion of watery fluids which gives a watery, loose diarrhoea. There is often a horrible cramp-like abdominal pain to go with the diarrhoea.

The diarrhoea is actually therapeutic in that it carries the infecting organism out of the bowels. Therefore the illness is self-limiting. The diarrhoeal phase of the illness can last between 1 and 14 days but most cases settle within 7 days.

The diarrhoea usually starts at about the same time as the vomiting but sometimes it may start 6 to 24 hours after the vomiting.

The treatment of gastro-enteritis is supportive with plenty of fluids (water, still drinks or rehydration mixtures (Dioralyte or Rehidrat available over the counter at chemists or on prescriptions) Sometimes anti sickness medicine is useful at the start of the illness. (Injection or tablet) Anti-spasmodics (e.g. mebeverine (Colofac)) can help to reduce the pain associated with gastro-enteritis. Antibiotics do not have a role in treatment of gastro-enteritis except in the most severe cases. Anti-diarrhoeal agents such as Lomotil or Imodium are sometimes useful especially if you need to go out for a while. However we do not like using them as they tend to delay the gut getting rid of the infecting organism.

Regular hand washing prevents the infection being passed around the rest of the family.

The good news is that the illness will clear itself up. The bad news is that the patient feels rotten whilst they have the illness.

This optimistic picture is right in most cases. However if you have a severe attack of gastro-enteritis you may need admitting to hospital for intra-venous fluids. Old people (>70) or the very young (<2) are more likely to need hospital treatment of gastro-enteritis. That said of 100 cases of gastro-enteritis seen by G.P.s it is unlikely that we will send more than 2 or 3 to the hospital. And for every case we hear about from patients there are several more which are never reported to doctors.

Food Handlers and Enteritis
If you work as a food handler and get gastro-enteritis you need to tell your employer as soon as possible. You should make an appointment to see your doctor and arrange for collection of a faeces specimen. The specimen will be checked at the lab for the organisms that cause diarrhoea. If positive environmental health will be notified and will advise on further measures.

As a food handler you must not work whilst you have diarrhoea
If you or your employer allows you to work with an infectious illness causing a risk to the customers there is a large chance of you and your employer being sued for negligence. After the outbreak in Wishaw it should be obvious why food hygiene standards need to be high. Sadly as environmental health officers will tell you food hygiene is not always given the priority it deserves.

Hobo_Jojo

think i had similar to this apart from no diarhia, contant vomiting tho if anything including water went into my stomach, absolutely nothing would stay down and i got very dehydrated and lost a lot of weight very quickly took 5 days to get semi over it fully recovered after about 2 weeks.

Gridlock Mikey

Cheers Nicks, that just about sorts it

So he's skiving then

Mikey

Nicks VR4

lol Mikey
Errm
AFAIK If he's been signed off by his Doctor officially he is not allowed back into work
Without getting another note from the quakes stating he is fine

So no Party for him then

Brendan Hughes

Doesn't he drive a Porsche?

Gridlock Mikey

Who?

TonyG

It's not pleasant. Having had a bout with it several years ago, I had... vomiting, diaho.. diharr...diaha...diha... the sh-(you know what), stomach cramps. I couldn't keep anything down and lost about 1/2 stone in weight in less than 24 hours. Oh and it was coming out of both ends simultaneously at times, so I got quite adept at sitting there with a bucket.
It started on a Saturday evening, was finished pretty much by the end of Sunday, but I was off work for a day as I was so tired and wiped out.

Nicks VR4

Who the sales guy or the doctor





[Edited by Nicks VR4 - 12/17/2003 3:32:11 PM]

[Edited by Nicks VR4 - 12/17/2003 3:32:37 PM]

Andrew Dixon

Gatso Enteritis? Isn't that the disease where a rash of speed cameras start to pop up everywhere?

Seriously though I had this a few weeks back. Hugely unpleasant for a few days, and I didn't eat for 72 hours. But as it says it cleared up with 4 days.

All well now, and yes, I did wash my hands before typing this.

A

wideboyuk

My 4 month old had it a while back, he was very very poorly.
Lasted about 3 days, just make sure you drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration as that is the biggest problem.

Brendan Hughes

Gastro!

(Making me look silly now! Thought he'd have spotted this one!)

kend

No, I think it's the feeling you get waiting to see if the NIP comes, if you've already got 9 points on your license.

DAC

no kend - thats called 'sh1tt1ng yourself'