| Botulism - The Rare but Potentially Fatal Foodborne Illness |
|
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Eating poorly prepared food isn't actually the only way you can be sickened by this type of bacteria. It is also possible for the bacterium to infect an open wound, (often caused when drug users share needles), and babies can sometimes be sickened by consuming the spores of the bacteria. Fortunately, the incidence of botulism poisoning is quite rare - only an average of 110 cases are reported in the United states each year. The majority of these cases, 72%, are infant botulism, and 25% are caused by eating contaminated food. Infants can be infected by eating honey, corn syrup or other sweetener that contains dormant bacterial spores, so parents are warned to not give honey in any form to babies under one year old. Once the child begins to eat solid food, stomach acids will kill the bacterial spores and prevent them from growing. As a gardener, it is the food-born illness that most concerns me, and the list of symptoms and side effects makes it reasonable to be concerned. Botulism is a paralytic illness, and the symptoms are very similar to those of people who are having a stroke. Symptoms can include difficulty swallowing, drooping eyelids, muscle weakness, and double or blurred vision. These symptoms can occur anywhere from 6 hours to 10 days after eating contaminated food. Patients treated for this illness can be on a ventilator for weeks, under intensive medical care. Paralysis will slowly improve over a number of weeks if the illness is diagnosed early enough. In the past, up to 1/2 of the people contracting the illness dies, but medical care has now reduced the fatality rate to 8%. Patients may continue to feel tired and have difficulty breathing for years after recovering from this illness. Clostridium botulinum bacteria grow and multiply in oxygen-free environments that are high in moisture and low in acidity. This is an excellent description of the inside of a jar of low-acid vegetables. High levels of sugar can help reduce the production of the bacteria, and its toxins. The bacteria are killed when vegetables are canned under high heat and pressure, the way store-bought canned goods are processed. My parents canned thousands of jars of beans over the years, but were always careful to follow the common practice of boiling the beans for at least 10 minutes before eating them. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) agrees that this is a good idea. It also makes sense to use the most recent home canning advice from the US Department of Agriculture, since new methods are being developed all the time. It just pays to be safe if you can low-acid foods, like beans, asparagus, beets, and corn. People have also been known to be sickened by botulinum bacterium growing in chopped garlic stored in oil, which should always be kept refrigerated, and in potatoes baked in aluminum foil, if the potatoes are left in the foil and are not refrigerated. Do frozen vegetables pose the same dangers as home-canned produce? According to the USDA Safe Food Handling Fact Sheet, "Food stored constantly at 0o F will always be safe. Freezing keeps food safe by slowing the movement of molecules, causing microbes to enter a dormant stage. Freezing preserves food for extended periods because it prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause both food spoilage and foodborne illness." However, the same document goes on to say that freezing does not kill bacteria - it simply puts it into dormancy. As soon as the food is thawed, the bacteria can begin to grow and multiply, just as they can in any food. To be safe, use up any thawed (and even fresh) veggies as soon as possible, and keep any left-overs in the fridge. Jonni writes about gardening and life on her blog at http://www.SmallCityFarm.info Finding a Safe for Home or Business the Easy Way If you are in the market for a safe for your home or business, there is a website that has an incredible Safe Selection Wizard for finding exactly the safe you need. One has only to answer a few questions, and the Wizard will display all the safes available that will fit your needs, and in a wide range of prices. First determine what kind of protection is needed. The Wizard will ask you about the obvious - fire and theft protection but also about storage for firearms, storage in small spaces and storage for data tapes, CD's, DVD's, media, photos and collections like baseball cards or stamp collections. Once you have finished that step, you'll be asked to estimate the value of the items being stored from $0 up to $500,000. Don't underestimate this, as it can make your safe obsolete very quickly. In the same way, don't pick a safe too small to hold the things you want to put in it. Measure those things and compare to the measurements with each safe description. (You'll see the descriptions when the Wizard makes your selections.) The next step is to choose the level of fire protection needed based upon your home or business location. If you live in a city and have nearby fire department, then you can probably get away with 1 hour or less fire protection. In the country, however, you may need up to 2 hours, because response times are longer. The final step is to tell the wizard what will be stored in the safe based upon the type of safe you chose in step one. Those include valuables like jewelry or cash; papers like important documents; media like CD/DVDs, microfiche or backup tapes; and finally medications as in a Doctor's office. The wizard will select all the safes that meet your criteria and present each with a picture, description, dimensions and price. You can then sort all the safes selected from Small to Large or Large to Small. A rule of thumb is to allow at least 50% more space than you currently need to allow for future growth. Verify again the dimensions against the item being stored, and make your selection. It couldn't be easier! This unique Safe Selection Wizard can only be found at http://www.safeandvaultstore.com >burglar fire safes, wall safes, www.safeandvaultstore.com Developing Your Security Cognizance Developing awareness for your personal safety is more than simply being cognizant that you could face a potential attack. It is more than realizing you need to take measures to defend yourself. It is more than spending time being on the lookout for potential threats. Developing awareness for your personal safety is all about learning when to heighten your sensitivity to your environment. It is the knowledge of when to be ready to use your stun gun or defense pepper spray, and when to actually be using it. The key to developing security cognizance is focus. As we go about our every day business, we tend to focus on the important things at the moment. Developing security cognizance is nothing more than learning when to focus on your personal safety. For instance, when you have just left the movies with your significant other, your focus may be on the good time you have had, enjoying the company of your date, or looking forward to how the rest of the evening may unfold. This is what we normally do. In the post-Columbine or 9/11 era, these activities make us much more vulnerable to surprise attacks by the various thugs found on the mean streets. Developing security cognizance is merely learning to focus on our personal safety at times when we are even remotely vulnerable. Usually, it is when we are alone. Alone when we are walking, jogging, or doing anything in isolation whether we realize it or not. Learn to think actively about your personal safety when you ARE alone. Even briefly. Do not assume passively that you are safe. Be familiar with your immediate surroundings and determine who and what is around you. Be able to look both ways and even behind you to see who may be in your immediate vicinity. As you can see, this is something you must do whenever you are alone and isolated. A typical scenario is the walk from the grocery store to your car. In retrospect, if you focused on your groceries and finding your car, then consider who is around you as you leave the store. Are you being followed? Look behind you. Is there someone, two or three individuals, hanging around the entrance as you leave? Do they follow you? Do they stop and ask you for a dollar or the present time of day to stall you? Is there someone in the proximity of your car? Is there someone sitting in the car parked next to yours? Is there a suspicious looking van parked next to your car? These scenarios pose potential threats that you must be aware of. The most natural thing to do is keep to ourselves and not accost a stranger. We tend to avoid eye contact. That is exactly what we must learn to do. Force yourself if you must. Look at the people around you. Just avoid eye contact. How many are standing around? How close are they? In what direction are they walking? Do you find yourself vulnerable? Are you in an isolated position? Are you a potential target for attack? Is there somebody behind you? Many times, victims are taken by complete surprise when they are attacked especially in some situations that are unavoidable such as an assailant jumping out from around the corner of a building. Too many times, victims are taken by surprise because they do not perceive the danger around them or their own vulnerability. The most likely response from a victim is something like, “They came from nowhere.” No they did not! The perps came from somewhere, in hiding, and the victim just did not see where. Force yourself to look and to see. To not be a victim is to not act like one in the eyes of an assailant. Law enforcement and security officers are trained to know this very well and so should you. Fabiola Castillo is an online marketer for the website NinjaCOPS.com. This virtual store specializes in selling stun guns, kubatons, pepper spray, nunchaku, pen knives, air Tasers, hidden cameras, and many other self defense products. |
|
||||
