The most staggering aspect of food poisoning and its related treatment is the fact that a great majority of incidents go unreported. For example, in the case of food poisoning from the bacteria Salmonella, estimates are that for every one case that is diagnosed, there are another 37 that are never formally recorded.  People suffering from this type of food poisoning don't realize they have it, do not have medical insurance coverage or choose to treat outside the confines of a medical visit.

Detecting Food Poisoning

When symptons such as diarrhea and vomiting become more extreme, the process of diagnosing whether or not food poisoning is the culprit is actually quite challenging. While some foodborne illnesses can be detected through a laboratory test of a patient's stool, other strains require specialized diagnosing equipment of a kind that is found only in the most specialized medical circumstances.

Common Food Poisoning Cases

The most basic form of food poisoning treatment involves rehydration. As a sufferer excretes the contaminated food stuffs any way they can, they also lose fluids and electrolytes. Commercial rehydration solutions such as Oralyte, Pedialute and Ceralyte, available at most local pharmacies, can help restore the proper fluid balance. A key sign of more severe food poisoning if is the sudden onset of symptoms is accompanied by a high fever and-or blood in the stool. In those instances, rehydration solutions can actually make the symptoms worse.

Extreme Food Poisoning Cases

Serious cases of food poisoning require the admission of a sufferer to ER. They also, in today's dangerous age of fast-spreading outbreaks, bring with them the responsibility to report the incident to the proper government agencies.  The sooner the details of a general food instance is phoned in or emailed to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and a meat-poultry-egg-products poisoning registered with the USDA, the sooner it can be contained. Food poisoning can also be sparked in dogs, cats and other pets by contaminated pet food, scenarios which are best reported to the FDA.