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Food
Poisoning Sickens Students Attending Prom at Boston Park Plaza Hotel Source of
Article: http://www.newsinferno.com/archives/6781 Date Published: Wednesday, June 10th, 2009 About
100 students who recently dined at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel in Boston,
Massachusetts are claiming they fell ill after eating dinner there. WHDH
reports that Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School students attending their
senior prom say that chicken gave them food poisoning. “I
woke up and I was having diarrhea in the morning, unfortunately. I wound up
going to lacrosse and I was throwing up during the entire game and had to go
to the hospital,” said student Ryan Sutherland, quoted WHDH. Sutherland became
sick two days after attending his prom. “I don’t want to blame the chicken,
but if everyone who got sick ate the chicken, I think that could be the
cause,” Sutherland noted, reported WHDH. While
Boston Park Plaza Hotel acknowledges that the students who ate there
complained of vomiting, diarrhea, and fever, it claimed no one else there
became sick and stated, “The origin of the illness has yet to be determined
and the hotel is cooperating fully with state and local health officials to
determine the cause, including preserving any food that was served at the
event that remains on property for testing,” said WHDH. Sadly, the illness
put a damper on graduation celebrations, said Sutherland, “It was really bad
timing. Graduation was kind of a mess. Kids felt really sick during
graduation,” WHDH quoted. Any
number of food borne pathogens could be to blame. For instance, an indicator
of fecal contamination, E. coli may cause fatal blood poisoning, cystitis,
deadly septicemia, and death. Symptoms include stomach cramps and watery
diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli generally
taints meat through improper butchering and processing practices and, once
released in the body, produces the shiga-producing toxins that have been
linked to kidney damage in young children, and can also lead to kidney
failure and death. E. coli infection can be transmitted through poor hygiene
or hand-washing habits when bacteria in diarrheal stools are involved. Salmonella
can cause serious, sometimes fatal Salmonellosis infections in young
children; weak or elderly people; and those with weakened immune systems.
Healthy people may experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and
abdominal pain, if infected. Without treatment, severe cases can result in
arterial infections—such as infected aneurysms—endocarditis, arthritis, and
death; however, some Salmonella bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. Listeriosis,
the food poisoning generated by Listeria monocytogenes, is particularly
dangerous to the elderly, pregnant women, newborns, those with chronic
medical conditions, people with HIV, or those undergoing chemotherapy. In
serious cases, the disease spreads to the nervous system, causing headaches,
stiff neck, and convulsions and can cause meningitis and blood poisoning in
immune-compromised individuals. Norovirus,
a group of viruses that cause gastroenteritis are not helped with
antibiotics. People become infected by eating food or drinking liquids
contaminated with norovirus; touching surfaces or objects contaminated with
norovirus, and then placing their hand in their mouth; and having direct
contact with another person who is infected and showing symptoms. People may
feel very sick and vomit many times a day. Sometimes people are unable to
drink enough liquids to replenish the liquids lost due to vomiting and
diarrhea and can become dehydrated and require special medical attention. |
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