How should a patient with suspected staphylococcal food poisoning be treated?

For most patients, staphylococcal food poisoning will cause a brief illness. The best treatments for these patients are rest, plenty of fluids, and medicines to calm their stomachs. Highly susceptible patients, such as the young and the elderly, are more likely to have severe illness requiring intravenous therapy and care in a hospital.

Antibiotics are not useful in treating this illness. The toxin is not affected by antibiotics.

Is a sick patient infectious?

Patients with this illness are not contagious. Toxins are not transmitted from one person to another.

How can staphylococcal food poisoning be prevented?

It is important to prevent the contamination of food with Staphylococcus before the toxin can be produced.

Could staphylococcal toxins be used in a bioterrorist attack?

Staphylococcal toxins could be used as a biological agent either by contamination of food/water or by aerosolization and inhalation. Breathing in low doses of staphylococcal enterotoxin B may cause fever, cough, difficulty breathing, headache, and some vomiting and nausea. High doses of the toxin have a much more serious effect