#ive taken an interest in microbiology too and have a microscope laying around somewhere

[philosophicalparadox]

Before anyone panics, the strain of salmonella is not specified. It's most likely Salmonella enteritidis, which is the most common pathogenic species.

This is also a species that already lives in your intestine, almost from the time you are born.

It is similar to Heliobacter pylori, the bacteria that causes ulcers, in that it lives naturally in your body, but certain conditions can cause it to over grow and throw your system out of whack.

One of those conditions obviously is introducing a lot of it into your system at once; if you have a cup that needs to be half full and you add even a few drops, you've tipped the scale.

But I also feel a need to point out that S. Enteritidis is SO common in the environment (seriously this shit lives damn near everywhere there's moisture and decomposing material- even between your toes!) Most people have a pretty hardy resistance to it. More so if you have pets, especially dogs, which often track it into the house on their paws. (Its relatively common in soil, never mind soil that has been soiled).

Not saying you should chance eating it. I've had food poisoning from this bacteria, it's definitely not fun. But on the off chance you've already ingested some, don't panic! unless you are in the vulnerable categories for any other disease, (young, old, immune compromised) you're unlikely to need hospitalization and will probably just have some bad diarrhea and possibly a low grade fever. Treat it like the flu, and eat, eat, eat! I know it's hard when you're feeling nauseous but keeping your gut motile will make you recover faster. Do NOT "starve" it, or it will starve you!

Take some high end probiotics, manage any fevers (which should not go over 101.5. Anything higher and you might have a more serious problem.) And drink a LOT of fluids, with electrolytes interjected periodically - be it eating soda crackers for the salt or actually mixing some salt water to drink, you need the sodium, in moderation, to process the fluids moving in and out. You also need glucose so if you're up to eating carbs (like soda crackers or plain baked potato) then do it.

I DO NOT recommend Pedialyte unless you dilute it by 1/2, especially at first. For some ungodly reason they put way too much zinc in it, and when your gut is out of whack that can potentially make things worse. This advice coming from my gastroenterologist, when I asked her why I could drink Pedialyte when I was healthy and feel fine, but when I was sick it always made me feel sicker. (Pedialyte is a godsend for motion sickness, so I sometimes sip a bit when I get really bad vertigo).

It's manageable and most people are fine after 3-5 days, just like the flu. If you're sicker longer than 7-8 days or your fever spikes above 102 or it won't go down, then definitely get to the ER. Salmonella sp. Kill by septic shock, which has a few hour window of survivability. Fortunately it's not terribly sneaky and shows up with pretty obvious symptoms - going pale or purple, especially in the gums, dizziness, extreme fatigue or faintness/weakness, jaundice, high fever (above 102), chest or abdominal pain that stays around, (colic, cramping of the smooth muscle in your intestines, is common in food poisoning overall but particularly with salmonella. It hurts like a bitch and you can pass out from the pain - i have - but its not fatal and usually passes in less than 30 seconds. They often come in waves, and those waves can last up to 30 minutes. Kind of like uterine contractions when you're in labor. If it cramps and stays that way, at that intense level of pain, for longer than like 3 minutes, go to the hospital.) Other symptoms include general feeling of malaise (overall yucky) intense feelings of impending doom, (I wish I was kidding but your body knows when it's not ok and will tell you about it. Ive experienced this feeling during heat stroke.) And an overall shocky feeling.

If you've never been in shock, psychogenic included, then I advise reading up on the symptoms. A lot of people fail to recognize when they're in shock and don't seek help, so the more people know the better.

Otherwise, just know that your odds of being ok are much greater than the reverse. There are very effective genus specific antibiotics that do wonders and work very fast on these kinds of things. Survival rate even for septic patients is pretty high.

You'll be alright.

heads up errbody