Can You Die from Salmonella Poisoning?

The most common way to be infected with Salmonella poisoning is through infected foods. In the United States, this is the most common method to become infected. There are thousands of salmonella species, and no definitive answer on which ones cause food poisoning.

There are common varieties of food like poultry meat and eggs that usually have salmonella bacteria present. You can also ingest salmonella through polluted water, from other people, and possibly even from handling certain reptiles. Pigs may also become infected with a certain salmonella species that may pass to humans. Uncooked poultry has large amounts of Salmonella present. Any surfaces that it touches should be thoroughly cleaned or there will be a chance of passing along infection.

If there a large enough presence of salmonella bacteria present in ingested foods or polluted water, then it may overcome the human defense mechanism and symptoms of salmonella poisoning will become evident. The human body has natural acids in the gastric tract that kill most if not all of the Salmonella bacteria that enters your body.

Can you die from salmonella?
The answer is usually no. According to the Food and Drug Administration about 142,000 Americans are infected with salmonella each year, and of that number, on 30 die. So your chances are pretty small of dying from Salmonella poisoning. However, if you have underlying health problems, then your chances of succumbing to Salmonella are a little higher. If you start to exhibit the symptoms of Salmonella poisoning, your best bet would be to contact a medical personnel for a professional opinion.

Salmonella Symptoms - Gastroenteritis and Typhoid Fever
You can exhibit two different sets of symptoms when you are infected with salmonella. The first set is directly related to food poisoning and is known as Gastroenteritis. The incubation period can be from several hours up to about 2 days. The symptoms from Gastroenteritis include, nausea, abdominal pail, diarrhea, fever chills, headache muscle pains, and blood in the stool.

The second set of symptoms is associated with Typhoid Fever, which is more common in developing countries. Incubation for Typhoid fever ranges from 5 to 21 days. With the Typhoid variety if infection you will experience a fever of over 102 degrees, a cough, rose color spots on your upper chest, along with the diarrhea symptoms associated with the Gastroenteritis.