What is the Difference Between Food Poisoning and Stomach Bug

The key difference between food poisoning and stomach bug is that food poisoning is a forborne illness due to eating food contaminated by infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, while stomach bug is the inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract by a viral infection.

Gastrointestinal tract infections affect the digestive tract. These infections are usually caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites. The common symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and fever. Severe symptoms may include bloody stool, bloody vomiting, and systematic infections. Food poisoning and stomach bug are two different types of gastrointestinal tract infections.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Food Poisoning
3. What is a Stomach Bug
4. Similarities – Food Poisoning and Stomach Bug
5. Food Poisoning vs Stomach Bug in Tabular Form
6. Summary – Food Poisoning vs Stomach Bug

What is Food Poisoning?

Food poisoning is a forborne illness caused by eating contaminated foods by infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Food poisoning can also be caused by toxins from these infectious agents. Normally, the contamination of foods can take place at any point of processing, production, or at home if foods are handled or cooked incorrectly. The signs and symptoms may start within hours after eating food, or they may begin even weeks later. The typical signs and symptoms are nausea, vomiting, watery or bloody diarrhoea, abdominal pain, cramps, fever, excessive thirst, dry mouth, little or no urination, severe weakness, dizziness (light-headedness), blurry vision, muscle weakness, and tingling in the arms.

Older adults, pregnant women, infants, young children, and people with chronic diseases such as AIDS, diabetes, liver disease, etc., are more likely to experience food poisoning. The complications caused by food poisoning include miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, fatal infections in babies, long-term neurological damage, delayed development in infants, and hemolytic uremic syndrome.

Food poisoning can be diagnosed through medical history, physical examinations, blood tests, stool tests, and PCR tests. Furthermore, treatment options for the replacement of lost fluid, antibiotics, and antipyretic medications.

What is a Stomach Bug?

Stomach bug or stomach flu is the inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract by viral infections. The most common way to get a stomach bug is through contact with an infected person or by consuming contaminated food or water. The signs and symptoms of stomach bugs include water or bloody diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, stomach cramps, abdominal pain, occasional muscle aches or headaches, and low-grade fever. Young children, older adults, schoolchildren or dormitory residents, and anyone with weakened immunity (HIV/AIDS and receiving chemotherapy to treat cancers) are at risk of this disease. The complications that are caused by stomach bugs include a severe loss of water, essential salts, minerals, and death.

Moreover, stomach bugs can be diagnosed through physical examination and rapid stool tests. Furthermore, the treatment options for stomach bugs are antiviral medications, hydration, lifestyle, and home remedies (stop eating solid foods for a few hours, try sucking on ice chips, ease back into eating, avoid certain foods like caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, fatty or seasoned foods), get plenty of rest, and antidiarrhoeal medications (bismuth subsalicylate).

What are the Similarities Between Food Poisoning and Stomach Bug?

• Food poisoning and stomach bug are two types of gastrointestinal tract infections.
• Both gastrointestinal infections may have similar symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and fever.
• Both infections can cause complications.
• They can be diagnosed through blood tests and stool tests.
• They are treated with medications like antibiotics, antiviral medications, and antidiarrhoeal medications.

What is the Difference Between Food Poisoning and Stomach Bug?

Food poisoning is a foodborne illness caused due to the consumption of contaminated foods by infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites, while stomach bug is the inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract by viral infection. Thus, this is the key difference between food poisoning and stomach bug. Furthermore, food poisoning is caused by Camphyloabacter, Clostridium botulinum, E. coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio vulnificus, Giardia lamblia, Norovirus, Rotavirus, etc. On the other hand, stomach bug is caused by Norovirus and Rotavirus.

The below infographic presents the differences between food poisoning and stomach bug in tabular form for side-by-side comparison.

Summary – Food Poisoning vs Stomach Bug

The digestion process takes place in the gastrointestinal tract. However, the gastrointestinal tract can be infected through bacteria, viruses, and bacteria. Food poisoning and stomach bug are two different types of gastrointestinal tract infections. Food poisoning is mainly caused by eating food contaminated by infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites. Whereas, the stomach bug is the inflammation of the inside lining of the gastrointestinal tract by a viral infection. So, this is the difference between food poisoning and stomach bug.

Reference:

1. “Food Poisoning.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 26 June 2020.
2. Pietrangelo, Ann. “Viral Gastroenteritis (Stomach Flu): Symptoms and Treatment.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 23 Nov. 2021.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Stomach Pic for Food Poisoning Thingy” By Daniel X. O’Neil (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr
2. “Norwalk Virus” NIAID (CC BY 2.0) via Flickr