Second question to Salmonella?

Question

So if it is not airborne and people with it should not prepare food or pour water for someone else does this mean that it can live outside the body. Such as on the fingertips. And if so, how long can it survive? I am trying to understand how my son who may have contracted a string of the infection from lunch at school or peanut butter that I had at home could pass it to me and me not eating anything but having some of the symptoms that he had and then me passing it to one of my co-workers?

Answer 1

Salmonella is a bacterium. Although it is a facultative intracellular pathogen, it is quite capable of living outside of a host. In other words, it will continue to grow quite happily where ever it ends up, providing it has a source of food. So salmonella can be found on your toilet seat, your chopping board etc. I assume you've been in close contact with your son when he was sick? Thats how you got it. Then you may have passed it on just by shaking your co-workers hand. It is no great surprise.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure it's only because if they vomit or expactorate the salmonella onto food they are preparing. It can survive from 8 hours to 48 or more depending on the particular strain. If your son got it from food at school or even at home, unless you eat that exact food you will probably not get it. It is an ingested strain only and you will not 'give' it to anyone at work. Did you take son to the hospital? He needs to be given fluids if he does in fact have salmonella poisoning. Good Luck.

Answer 3

It is nearly always spread through fecal/oral contamination. You son may not have washed his hands as well as he should have, and then passed it on to you. If it was on your hands, it would have been easy to pass it on to others through contact. Shared work space, pens, or other common items can pass it along.

The CDC is always a good place for this research