Due to the peculiarity of "masking" as other diseases, this disease from the group of intestinal infections is diagnosed only in a third of cases.
Sporadic cases of yersiniosis are registered in Ukraine - up to fifty per year. In the Lviv region, they are recorded up to 10-12 per year.
However, patients with this intestinal infection are much more!
Thus, almost 117,000 cases of yersiniosis and 35 deaths per year are registered in the USA every year, according to the statistics of the American CDC.
ANNA KOSTIV, an epidemiologist of the Lviv Regional Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, explains in detail about yersiniosis
What is yersiniosis?
Intestinal yersiniosis is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia enterocolitica. It is manifested by symptoms of intoxication, damage to the gastrointestinal tract, liver, joints, other organs and systems.
Yersinia do not tolerate heat: heating to 60°C kills them after just 1 minute. However, the bacterium can withstand cold and repeated freezing and thawing. A temperature of 4-8°C is favorable for the reproduction of bacteria. Low temperature, high humidity - ideal conditions for the survival of microorganisms. By storing poorly cleaned, contaminated vegetables in the refrigerator, housewives create the most favorable conditions for the reproduction of yersinia.
Yersinia can be stored well on fresh vegetables: cabbage, carrots, beets, onions, apples, greens in the conditions of a vegetable store and refrigerator.
How can you get infected?
The main reservoir of bacteria is the soil, the secondary reservoir is mouse-like rodents. The source of infection can be cows, goats, sheep, pigs, dogs, cats, a sick person and a healthy carrier.
The mechanism of infection transmission is fecal-oral, i.e. through food, water and contact-household routes. Bacteria can enter the human body through milk, dairy products, meat and vegetables, fruits. People can also get infected from sick farm animals and dogs and cats. Excreting the pathogen with urine and feces, sick animals or rodents infect the environment, in particular, water, food and products. The water route of transmission is somewhat less often recorded, for example, when using contaminated water - from wells, open water bodies, in some cases - tap water.
Let's simulate a situation when yersinia can get into the human body.
For example, the meat, primarily pork, was not fried enough when preparing a steak or barbecue. Poor heat treatment of meat, where there are semi-raw pieces, can cause infection.
It is known that in the spring, parents try to feed their children healthy salads made of carrots, cabbage, and apples more often.
And where do the vegetables and fruits on the shelves come from? From basements and vegetable storages, where mice have time to run to their heart's content during the winter. They contaminate vegetables with pathogens. It is in the spring that there is the greatest risk of infection with yersiniosis!
Vegetables, fruits, greens were not sufficiently cleaned and washed under running water, and were not scalded with boiling water. Often, for example, in cabbage, only the upper leaves were washed, and a salad was made.
People can become infected by caring for animals. There is a risk when a person drinks unboiled milk or raw water where the pathogen is present. Although the bacterium dies within 1 minute of boiling!
What is the danger of yersiniosis?
Yersiniosis can imitate other pathologies. The disease often spreads, "masking" as various diseases: acute respiratory viral infection, intestinal infection, appendicitis, hepatitis, rheumatism. Yersiniosis is the most dangerous for children.
The risk of complications increases if yersiniosis is not treated. The consequences of this intestinal infection can be quite serious, especially if left untreated.
In half of the cases, rheumatoid arthritis could be provoked by previously experienced yersiniosis.
Yersiniosis can be a trigger for the development of severe pathologies, as well as complicate chronic diseases.
How to protect yourself so as not to get sick?
- thoroughly clean and wash vegetables, fruits and greens;
- carry out sufficient heat treatment of dishes;
- use boiled or bottled water for drinking;
- wash hands with soap and hot water before preparing and eating food, after visiting public places and the toilet;
- in the absence of water, use antiseptic means for hands;
- do not buy products, in particular, meat, vegetables, fruits at spontaneous markets, from random sellers along the corridors;
- swim in permitted places;
- provide protection from rodents in the premises where vegetables and fruits are stored.
How is yersiniosis manifested?
As with all intestinal infections, the incubation period (the time from the beginning of infection to the manifestation of symptoms) lasts a week.
Acute onset, prolonged fever - 1-2 weeks, diarrhea, abdominal pain, spotty-papular, small-spotted or hemorrhagic rash located in skin folds, on the chest, around the joints.
Along with symptoms characteristic of intestinal infections, such as vomiting, nausea, fever. Yersiniosis also has such manifestations as SARS - sore throat, runny nose, aches in the joints and body.
Acute intestinal infections are characterized by a temperature that decreases with treatment. But with yersiniosis, the fever can last more than a week.
What types of diagnostics?
Yersiniosis is great "disguises" itself as various diseases. Therefore, it is sometimes difficult for the doctor to orientate himself in order to establish the correct diagnosis based on clinical signs. However, there should be vigilance for insidious yersiniosis.
Laboratory studies will help. To detect yersiniosis, it is important to undergo a laboratory examination before starting treatment.
1. Bacteriological method: the causative agent is detected in feces, urine, and blood before treatment.
2. Serological method: antibodies are detected in the blood of a sick person.
These studies are carried out at the "Lviv State Medical Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine" at the address: Lviv, str. Krupyarska, 27.
If symptoms of the disease appear, seek medical help in a timely manner.
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