checklists.oneSign in
‹ Health

Food poisoning at home: what to do

Look after yourself or a child, stay hydrated, and know when it needs a doctor.

26 items · 5 sections · health, food, home

Start this checklist

Care at home (6)

  • Stay home and rest
  • Sip fluids such as water, little and often
  • Keep breast or bottle feeding a babyFormula at its usual strength.
  • Eat when you feel able, and avoid fatty or spicy food
  • Skip fruit juice and fizzy drinks: they can make diarrhoea worse
  • Paracetamol if neededCheck the leaflet for children. No aspirin for under 16s, no diarrhoea medicine for under 12s.

Watch for dehydration (3)

  • Dark, smelly pee, or peeing less than usual
  • Fewer wet nappies in a baby
  • Ask a pharmacist about oral rehydration sachets

Call a doctor or nurse line (6)

  • Worried about a baby under 12 months
  • A child stops feeding
  • Being sick and cannot keep fluid down
  • Blood in the diarrhoea
  • Diarrhoea for more than 7 days, or vomiting for more than 2 days
  • Dehydration still there after rehydration sachets

Get emergency help now (7)

  • Vomiting blood, or vomit like ground coffee
  • Green vomit
  • May have swallowed something poisonous
  • Stiff neck, pain from bright light, or sudden severe headache
  • Sudden severe tummy pain
  • Severe difficulty breathing, or confused and not responding as usual
  • Blue, grey, pale or blotchy skin or lipsAny of these: call 911 US, 999 UK, 112 or 108 India.

Stop it spreading (4)

  • Wash hands with soap after the toilet and before food
  • Do not cook for others until 48 hours after symptoms stop
  • Wash soiled sheets hot, and clean toilet and handles
  • Throw out the suspect food, and tell the restaurant or shop if you think it came from there

Written from www.nhs.uk

Similar