Every time I pick up the paper it seems there's some mention that a food is contaminated with deadly bacteria. Now it's apple slices; before it was melons and spinach. What's going on, and what can I do to protect my family?
The apple slices (melons, etc.) were infected with bacteria called listeria (not E. coli or salmonella, the other food-borne bacteria that cause trouble). Listeria can cause gastrointestinal problems and spread through the body, triggering sepsis, meningitis, fever, aches and pains, confusion, loss of balance and even convulsions. This infection generally hits the elderly, those with weakened immune systems, pregnant women, their fetuses and newborns. In 2011, listeria-contaminated melons made 146 people sick; 30 died. Recently, fast-food chains removed contaminated apple slices from most outlets.
If you want to protect your family from listeria (and other food-borne infections), follow these safety tips.
• Thoroughly rinse raw all fruits and vegetables before eating, cutting, peeling or cooking.
• In the fridge, keep cooked and uncooked foods separated, and all produce separate from meats. Listeria can grow in the fridge, unless it is 40 degrees or below. Check the temperature regularly with a thermometer. And clean up all spills in the fridge immediately.
• Counters and cutting boards should be washed with soap before and after you put uncooked foods on them.
• Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds after touching and preparing any food.
• Don't hang on to leftovers and deli-sliced meats for more than four days.
• Pregnant women should avoid all packaged meats, hot dogs and smoked fish.
• You can't know for sure that restaurant foods are infection-free, but try to stick to healthy, fresh foods prepared in a clean environment.
Health tip of the week: Whooping cough cases on the rise
Whooping cough is spreading across North America. In the first half of 2012, there were more than 18,000 reported cases, and we're heading for the most since 1959 (40,000).
Whooping cough, also called pertussis, is a bacterial infection that starts with coldlike symptoms, but after a week or two triggers coughing fits (whoops) that leave a person breathless. Infected infants, who account for half of the deaths from the disease, may cough slightly or not at all.
Why is whooping cough making a comeback? First, the newer formulation of the vaccine (since the early 1990s) seems to wear off sooner than the previous one, making people vulnerable. And most teens and adults don't get boosters; so they can get and spread the disease. Also, infants start the five-part vaccination at 2 months and are not immunized until they get the third shot. So they can catch it from siblings, parents and caretakers who might not even know they have it.
To help stop this epidemic:
• Have all infants fully vaccinated with DTaP (diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis).
• Get a Tdap (tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis) booster. It's for kids 11-12 years old; everyone who has contact with pregnant women or infants; women of childbearing age, before, during or immediately after pregnancy; and everyone 64 or older who has not had a booster within the past 10 years.
Dr. Michael Roizen is chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and co-founder and chairman of the RealAge Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Mehmet Oz is a professor and vice chairman of surgery at Columbia University, as well as medical director of the Integrated Medicine Center and director of the Heart Institute at New York Presbyterian/Columbia Medical Center. To submit questions and find ways to grow younger and healthier, go to RealAge.com.