Scientists suspect that there are long-term effects of foodborne illnesses, according to the Associated Press, but there is no way to positively link a medical problem fifteen or twenty years after someone gets E. coli or salmonella poisoning.
Acccording to Dr. Robert Tauxe of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the long-term consequences are “an important but relatively poorly documented, poorly studied area of foodborne illnesses.”
High-blood pressure, kidney damage and even kidney failure is affecting patients who had E. coli poisoning as children. Salmonella victims are reporting earlier than average problems with arthritis.
The University of Utah has tracked patients with E. coli, and a new organization, STOP, Safe Tables Our Priority, is starting a national registry of food-poisoning survivors with long-term health problems.
