Food Poisoning
 

My friend became deathly ill in June 2004 on his visit to Sandals Dunns River. He was in intensive care for a couple days after returning. He ate eggs on a breakfast buffet which made him sick. Has anybody heard about any other such illness?

We have been to Sandlas many times and never been sick once...

You can have a problem with food anywhere and you will drive yourself crazy worrying about it. I have traveled pretty extensively in the Caribbean and Mexico and never even had the slightest problem but I was exposed to hepatitis when I ordered a salad at the Wendy's in the good ole USA.

While it is possible to try to guess which food made one sick, without testing the food it is impossible to know for sure. Different organisms have different periods from time of exposure to time of symptoms - anywhere from a few hours to a few days. It could have been a dirty water glass, bathroom contamination, bacterial or viral infection contracted in some way other than the eggs. And different people react differently to same bacteria.

Hope your friend is feeling better - no real purpose in trying to play detective over something 6 months ago.

Actually Gail, there is a need to play detective. His doctors claim he must have contacted the bacteria at Sandals because that is where he took all his meals and the timeline. Sandals however is attempting to deny that they were the source.

Are you being a detective or an attorney ?

Smells like impending litigation to me.

Of course Sandals is denying that they are the source...IMHO they should.

All of us can get sick at home...and certainly when we travel. I know this sounds simplistic, but how does anyone know what the source of any illness might be, unless tests are conducted immediately.

We all have to endure airport security screening. Do we want to start health screening upon arrival...or have people in white coats testing our food at the buffet ?

If you are really worrried go to your Dr. before you leave and get some Ciprofloxacin and take 1 everyday while you are their and you wont have a problem.

I agree with Kimberly and Marion that it is too hard to tell that long ago what he got sick from. I also think you can get sick anywhere even local to your own home. When we traveled to Mexico a few years ago, I was nervous about the water and my doctor gave me cipro to take with me. We never took it or needed it, but I felt better traveling with it. I think with buffet food anywhere, try to eat food when it is first put out. It's the stuff that sits there for hours that goes bad. How about that Hep outbreak from a Chili's restaurant in Penn? The tomatoes of all things were contaminated. Yuck. It is a lousy no matter where you get it.

I've gotten food poisoning in Denver, Washington DC, and Santa Fe. So far never in the Caribbean (six trips, including Jamaica).

I have to put my 2 cents worth in. I am an RN in a busy surburban Emergency Department. People get gastrointestinal illnesses ALL THE TIME, whether it be food poisoning, or just a gastrointestinal bug. I don't see how you could possibly say for sure that it was from a certain food. Would expect more people sick at the resort as well if there was a bad batch, but everyones bodies react differently. And yes, if you let yourself get dehydrated enough from any illness, you can land yourself in the ICU with electrolyte imbalances and even temporary kidney failure until you are rehydrated. If one is feeling that sick, seek help sooner. Also, your original post asked if there are any other such illness. Yes, it is called gastroenteritis and isn't necessarily from food poisoning.