OH CARP! That's all you both need. So sorry to hear about this situation. Please keep us posted on his progress.

I use food grade H2O2.

I'm sorry he's so sick, and it must be a scary thing.

Avoiding the hospital is a good thing, given the problem of hospital-acquired infections.

Bacteria in poultry and meat is increasingly antibiotic-resistant, too. I don't know if that is the case for campylobacter.

Thank you for the reminder.

Tricia - So glad to hear your DH is finally on the mend. Was a scary experience.

My 12-year old Golden picked up campylobacter as a very young puppy, and I vividly recall how she went from perfectly normal to near death in a matter of hours. We ended up at Penn Vet and it was touch and go until they finally figured out what it was. At that point, she recovered quickly, but it was a very weird experience.

Sue

I'm so sorry to hear this, Tricia. I hope your DH gets stronger with every day.
Thanks for the warning. I am already vigilant about disinfecting or tossing everything that touches raw chicken, and this will make me even more so.

Tricia, never heard of Campylobacteriosis. Scary. I'm glad your husband is on the mend.

~Ann

Speedy recovery to your hubby. One only needs to have food poisoning once to have complete sympathy for anyone else who has/had it.

We studied this bacteria in Food Safety Classes. Onset can vary from 2-5 days and the degree of the affliction will depend on the health of the individual, as well as the amount ingested.

We were told that as much as 80% of poultry meat may be contaminated with this organism. The contamination is generally on the skin, not the muscle. That's why poultry of all kinds have more bacteria - the skin. Other sources include raw clams, contaminated drinking water, raw milk, raw hamburger and even contact with cats and dogs have been sources for this bacteria.

Be sure to wash hands after handling pets before preparing food, eating or drinking. Keep the bleach/water solution handy in a spritz bottle for clean-up. Washing hands when handling meat means more than just a quick splash of running water. Don't cross-contaminate via towels used for drying hands - especially hands that haven't been thoroughly washed to begin with. Don't forget to wipe down the handles on the refrigerator with a disinfectant, as well as the handle/s on your faucet.

-Grainlady

Tricia, I'm so sorry to hear this!
I sincerely hope he continues to recuperate,
And is back 100% soon!

And thank you for sharing!
I've never heard of Campylobacteriosis.
So I've definitely learned something today.
Of course, I knew to be extra careful with raw meats,
Especially chicken.
But I will be even MORE careful now!

Rusty

Oh No!!! How awful for your poor DH and for you too! Sending best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to normal!! I hope your friends and family are assisting you with whatever you need!

This post was edited by compumom on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 15:19

Tricia, this is awful! It has to be hard for you to take care of your husband. Glad he's getting better--bet he's happy too. Good luck on his quick recovery.

thanks for the heads up hope hubby is back to health soon I am one of those not so careful cooks and need to hear how bad it can be.

wow, sorry to hear that. I hope he recovers & is back at 100% soon. It's scary when someone falls so ill so quickly!

I've passed on everybody's good wishes to hubby. He says, "Thanks, he needs every one!" He's still sick but getting well enough he's crabby. :)

We've been over and over that night he prepared the roast chicken and have decided the most likely scenario is after dinner when he took out the trash (that included the paper the raw chicken was wrapped in) he probably pushed down on the trash to smash it into the bag and got his hands in the juices containing the bacteria. By that time, he was in "straighten up the kitchen" mode and no longer thinking about contamination - just get the chicken waste out of the house.

He's easy to cook for now. Doc says only Gatorade, plain white rice, plain peeled boiled white potatoes, bananas, and saltines.

John, DH has an appointment next week with a Gastro specialist. We and his doctor are also concerned about the antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria. He's been sick a long time and on his second round of antibiotics.

I think it will be some time before chicken is WFD around here again. DH says maybe never.

/tricia

This post was edited by triciae on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 15:48

Sorry to hear what he's going through, and I know it's tough on you, too. If it was in fact the chicken, it validates my being extremely cautious with handling and cooking to recommended temps. Good luck!

This post was edited by foodonastump on Sat, Jun 8, 13 at 18:51

Oh, wow, I'm so sorry that happened to him. I'm relieved you didn't get sick, too, although I wish he didn't get sick either. I'll think positive thoughts for him and you, as caring for him and worrying about him must be exhausting.

I'll remind Jerry about this, too, as he's our meat cook, and tends to be a bit lax, or less worried about getting sick from raw meat.

Sally

I'm sorry to read this also and hope that your husband is feeling better soon. Between the storm, your health and now your husband, you both have been through a lot. Prayers for better days ahead.

Sounds scary. I am glad he is much better.

dcarch

Tricia,
Please inquire about a long course of Flaygl. It's not fun, but from personal experience it often takes two types of drugs to kill these bugs. In '94 I had shigella and I know how awful it can be. A gastro MD is a great idea. Also he probably needs an extremely strong probiotic along with these drugs, , but you probably already knew that.

Tricia, am so sorry to hear this. Prayers for you both.

Interestingly enough, there was an article in our paper today about a young man in high school who made the supposedly healthy choice for lunch and got a chicken ceaser salad when all his friends were eating pizza, ect. He got the same thing, and ended up not being able to pitch for his school baseball team the entire year, after having spent all the previous year training and eating right.

Tami

Wow, what an ordeal. I guess he had dysentery, too.

Hope his recovery goes well.

Make sure he gets probiotics every day, too. The antibiotics he's taking will clean his gut, and he'll need to recolonize it. Yogurt or pills, either one is good.

Good luck to both of you.

Scary stuff...so glad he's on the mend. Thank god and the scientists for antibiotics....I would've lost DH at least twice in the last 2 years if it wasn't for them. For one he had to go to an infectious specialist who had him go to the hospital every day for 2 weeks to the chemo center to receive IV antibios plus an additional 4 weeks of pills before the infection was cleared.

Thanks for the heads up. I too am so careful with raw meat and esp chicken, but even at that, you know you are contaminating stuff...it only takes a splash or an absent-minded swipe to spread it around.

I remember reading an article about how dirty the kitchen sink is...so much so that if an alien came to earth who knew nothing about how we lived, by cleanliness alone, they would assume we cleaned our dishes in the toilet and bathroomed in the kitchen sink. Yikes!

tricia...I am linking an important article. I hope that you will talk to the GI Dr about doing this. It works perfectly and in 24 hrs and is used with the campy as well as other GI disorders. There is the initial "ick" factor but PLEASE ignore that. c

Here is a link that might be useful: fecal transplant

Ack, Tricia...I'm sorry. Nasty bugs. I hope he is better every day.

That must have been a terrifying ordeal for both of you, Tricia. Please pass along my wishes for a good recovery to your DH.

One of spouse's morning coffee buddies was diagnosed with the same infection last year but it was traced to unpasteurized milk. He was very ill from it for about three days and quite weak afterwards but after about two months, he was fully back in action.

Tricia I can't believe you have this stress on top of everything you and DH have been through!!!!

Add my good thoughts and wishes to everyone else's that he has a speedy and thorough recovery. You need good wishes too, to keep up your strength in tending to him.

Doctors often recommend the BRAT diet to people with the flu and diarrhea Bananas, rice, applesauce and toast,

So sorry your husband has been so ill!

Hopefully he is now on the mend to a full recovery!

I'm sure this has been just as hard on you. Always hard to see the ones we love, so ill.

Sending best wishes/hugs to both of you!

Also thanks for the reminder re chicken and germs. I always bleach everything afterwards, but one can never be too careful.

We are having our first real meal together tonight - homemade spaghetti/mini-meatballs (used a chuck roast that we ground in FP). DH is finally almost well. Not totally but almost...enough to try eating dinner.

It's been a busy week. DH's doctors were required to report his case of campylobacteriosis to the authorities. He then received calls from both Stonington and the State. Lots of questions. As it turns out, he is the 5th such case within a few square mile radius. They are working to isolate the source of the bacteria. Hopefully, before another person is infected.

I think we'll be working our way back to cooking slowly. DH has just finished his second dose of antibiotics and has a couple more tests scheduled for July 1.

/tricia

Progress is good! 5th case in a few square miles, wonder if that means it's localized or if there are about 5 more cases in the next few miles away. It's gotta be tough to pinpoint unless there's a significant outbreak, but it's encouraging to know they're trying. Continued luck, I hope he enjoys (and keeps!) tonight's dinner!

That's good news.

I imagine the authorities are checking the source of the chicken. Was it a locally raised bird, or a locally processed bird, or a big-brand bird shipped from many states away, etc.

You also mentioned earlier the chance that the soil was a source, I think. That's interesting, I'd not heard of such a thing. Do you think it is likely?

Soil is a common source for pathogens. There was a problem with spinach and Campylobacter jejuni because of the manure used to fertilize the soil for organically-grown spinach. "Campylobacter entry into the human food chain is through application of untreated animal manures and/or biosolids to agricultural crop land." Because spinach is often eaten raw, it can be a source for the bacteria found in the soil. That's why you still need to thoroughly wash produce at home, even the pre-washed bagged greens, especially if you aren't going to cook it.

Another example:
"Colorado and other states in the West have higher per capita rates of foodborne botulism than other parts of the United States. One contributing factor is that the soil in the western U.S. from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean contains a particularly high count of Type A Clostridium botulinum spores, the type of spores that produce the toxin most dangerous to humans." (Source: Colorado State University Extension Fact Sheet - 9.350 "Botulism")

-Grainlady

Hmm, this is an informational thread. I don't usually wash bagged and "ready to use" spinach. I assumed it was washed during packing.

Tricia - I haven't been around and am just seeing this. Wow! what an ordeal, I'm so glad to hear that "real" food is back on the menu now. I hope that they find the source.

My thoughts and prayers are definitely with you both!

Bacteria isn't just on the surface of foods, for fruits and veggies, it's IN the food, as are pesticides, which are taken into plants as they take nutrients and water from the soil or growing medium.

Water, contaminated with norovirus, which is very common is frequently used to wash pesticides off food, which then contaminates the food.

It's a never ending cycle and we are becoming less able to protect ourselves.