My PB & J gave me salmonella ......

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matt_mt19

matt_mt19

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So after a long shift in the ED I came home, was dead tired and just wanted to grab something and get to bed. Made a PB & J sandwich, which was quite good (strawberry jelly's where its at). Then for the next few days was sick as hell -- and then I see on the news -- my peanut butter was tainted! Its not safe to even eat PB&J? I wonder how many kids we are mistaking their illness on rotavirus, etc.... nope Ms. Smith - you gave your 4y/o salmonella with that PB&J you packed for him.

Check out the news if you've been living under your rock again... :confused:

http://kctv5.com/Global/story.asp?S=6091549

http://investor.conagrafoods.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=97518&p=irol-newsArticlemedia&ID=963451&highlight=

I had the Peter Pan variety (#2111) on the label :thumbdown:
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Members don't see this ad :)
Not sure how long we've had it -- but this was the first time eating out of it... and the last -- for me at least.............. :cool:
 
I had a tainted jar of Peter Pan with 2111 on the jar lid as well.

Just finished it yesterday and THEN I found out it may have been tainted with salmonella!!

well, i'm hoping it was one of the jars that waas NOT tainted. either way i've not gotten sick (at least yet).

they say the incubation is 6-72 hours. so here's hoping.

later
 
Fresh ground PB is the way to go! Yummy..

Oh and i agree with the OP about strawberry Jelly. :thumbup:
 
personally, I prefer almond butter...the kind they grind in the store for you.....ymmmmm......but probably even more likely to be contaminated......hmmmmmmm
 
We've had more than two dozen calls about this in the past two days. Stool cultures and Cipro all 'round! Yee-ha! :rolleyes:

I have JIF at home also. Thank God. One more reason not to shop at Wal-Mart. ;)
 
People are selling their peanut butter jars on ebay saying they'll be collectable some day. I just returned mine and bought the only thing left on the shelf - all natural smuckers honey peanut butter.
 
I have TWO jars of the stuff. Thing is, I missed two days last weak with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Had really bad stomach pains in the epigastric area. I was afraid of maybe having pancreatitis, but it finally went away... just drank electrolytes and laid around. Heard about the salmonella stuff and it certainly got me to woundering....


I havent been that sick in a LONG time!! I have been lucky as far as sickness goes in medical school. That was the first day(s) I have ever missed due to illness....

Should mention the one jar was empty and the second I had used once.... They are both going back to the store as soon as I make it up there.
 
Sweet Tea said:
Choosy moms choose Jif. And so do I. :D
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hahaha :laugh:

I usually get Jif as well. It's usually cheaper.

Schools local to me "confiscated" homemade PB&J sammiches from the school kids and handed them new ones. I'm sure there were a few tears and WTF looks. :laugh: "Gimme back my sammich!"
 
I have an unopened jar of 2111 right here that I bought at Wal-Mart a few months ago. Had a guy last night that is the FIRST gastroenteritis I've ever actually had to give antibiotics to (I'm pretty stingy otherwise, going with supportive treatment), and he, also, had two PB&J's the night before with 2111 PB, then, yesterday morning had n/v/d with abd pain and fever (transient) all day. Confounding things were 1. the woman that was too hot to be with him, who had her own BF, and the pt his own GF (who was incessantly calling, but not there), but the woman was the attentive one, literally all over him - and has had 2 nursing school classes, and was driving my nurse nuts, and 2. I've never seen an ankle-monitoring bracelet before in person, but this guy had one. I guess being in hospital isn't a "deal-breaker".
 
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The 2006 Red Book (the infectious disease handbook put out by the AAP) states:

Antimicrobial therapy usually is not indicated for patients with either asymptomatic infection or uncomplicated (noninvasive) gastroenteritis caused by non-typhoidal Salmonella sepcies, because therapy does not shorten the duration of disease cand can prolong the duration of fecal excretion. Although of unproven benefit, antimicrobial therapy is recommended for gastroenteritis caused by Salmonella species in people at increased risk of invasive disease, including infants younger than 3 months of age and people with chronic gastrointestinal tract disease, malignant neoplasms, hemoglobinopathies, HIV infection or other immunosuppressive illnesses or therapies.
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So why all the Cipro, guys? Are adults that different?
 
doctawife said:
So why all the Cipro, guys? Are adults that different?
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Some studies have shown that "the quinolones--unlike older antimicrobial agents that may have little impact on the duration of symptomatic illness and can in fact prolong fecal carriage of salmonellae--actually shorten the course of clinical disease and terminate excretion of these organisms in the stool."

I'm getting cultures on everybody first. If they're mildly ill and have only been sick for a day or two, I usually suggest riding it out for a few more days and holding off on the antibiotics.
 
KentW said:
Some studies have shown that "the quinolones--unlike older antimicrobial agents that may have little impact on the duration of symptomatic illness and can in fact prolong fecal carriage of salmonellae--actually shorten the course of clinical disease and terminate excretion of these organisms in the stool."

I'm getting cultures on everybody first. If they're mildly ill and have only been sick for a day or two, I usually suggest riding it out for a few more days and holding off on the antibiotics.
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Ah, that would explain why the AAP doesn't condone treatment - unless very sick (or have CF), the AAP doesn't recommend using Cipro at all. Those damn beagles get us pediatricians every time.
 
I've got you all beat.....my girlfriend gave me mono. I feel like ****, so if I'm more cranky than normal over the next few days (weeks?), that's why.
 
KentW said:
Some studies have shown that "the quinolones--unlike older antimicrobial agents that may have little impact on the duration of symptomatic illness and can in fact prolong fecal carriage of salmonellae--actually shorten the course of clinical disease and terminate excretion of these organisms in the stool."

I'm getting cultures on everybody first. If they're mildly ill and have only been sick for a day or two, I usually suggest riding it out for a few more days and holding off on the antibiotics.
Click to expand...

But the studies also show an increased rate of reappearance of symptoms with quinolones after treatment.
 
Actually talked with a state health epidemiologist about this today (I'm in SC). The skinny is that no salmonella has actually been identified in any jars of peanut butter, but the only common denominator among those sickened with this particular strain of salmonella (Tennessee serotype) seems to be the Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter with the lot # 2111....
And yup, I came home last night and checked my jar, and it was 2111. And I had a PB&J sandwich for breakfast yesterday, and I was still alive, so I had another one on the way to work, and I'm still fine, but I probably should throw it out....
I did get stool cultures on a lady with possible infection today with symptoms for 8 hr who had consumed said peanut butter 2 days ago. I wouldn't have treated her until the culture came back, as she looked pretty well and was afebrile and belly benign, but she had an awful history of Crohn's with something like 35+ surgeries for anal fistula disease, and she's on Remicade infusions, so given her immune compromised status and IBD, my supervising doc and I decided to treat.
But hey, I feel fine....
 
primadonna22274 said:
I did get stool cultures on a lady with possible infection today with symptoms for 8 hr who had consumed said peanut butter 2 days ago. I wouldn't have treated her until the culture came back, as she looked pretty well and was afebrile and belly benign, but she had an awful history of Crohn's with something like 35+ surgeries for anal fistula disease, and she's on Remicade infusions, so given her immune compromised status and IBD, my supervising doc and I decided to treat.
But hey, I feel fine....
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That sounds pretty consistent with the guidelines I've read. Immunocompromised = treat. Anyhoo, thinking about all of this peanut butter stuff definitely made my shift more interesting.
 
Man, just reading this thread made me hungry for a good old PB&J. I haven't had one in years.

My son loves PB only so we have tons of it around. Good old HEB brand generic PB.

Great sandwich. Thanks for the idea.

Yum.

Take care,
Jeff
 
EM_Rebuilder said:
I havent been that sick in a LONG time!! I have been lucky as far as sickness goes in medical school. That was the first day(s) I have ever missed due to illness....
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Dude. My fifth shift as an attending, at my brand new job, I had a horrible case of gastroenteritis. Barfing and squirting every 20 minutes or so. And I was at work.

Ain't no way in hell I was gonna call in sick on my brand new job. I just had the intern present cases to me in between squirts.

Q
 
I have seen ~15 patients with a primary complaint of peanut butter exposure.

I had one patient last night who told me that his "burps smelled like peanut butter" and he was afraid he was sick. Mind you, he had not eaten ANY peanut butter, but just wanted to be "checked out".

I kept having to tell people that if they were not sick, then THEY WERE NOT SICK.

I hate food recalls.
 
One of the attendings in our ED stated that he ate the PB, and came in white as a ghost and took a 2L bolus the other day.

We have a jar of the fabled 2111 in our house too. It's almost empty.

Thankfully, I'm allergic to peanuts.
 
That sucks!

Luckily, we buy in bulk and have been using the same peanut butter jar since 2005.
 
I live off PB&J. Hooray medical school and the crumby diets it encourages.
 
Hernandez said:
But the studies also show an increased rate of reappearance of symptoms with quinolones after treatment.
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Emerging quinolone-resistant salmonella strains are thought to result from the use of quinolones in livestock production. That's why it's important to obtain stool cultures if you're considering antibiotics.
 
Sidenote: last night on the Food Channel they featured a restaurant called "Sam and Ella's Chicken Grill". I don't think I'd eat there.
 
Dr.McNinja said:
We have a jar of the fabled 2111 in our house too. It's almost empty.

Thankfully, I'm allergic to peanuts.
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And you have peanuts in your HOUSE? Are you crazy?
 
doctawife said:
And you have peanuts in your HOUSE? Are you crazy?
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That's what I was thinking.

My kiddo has a peanut allergy & the only PB in the house is sealed packages of PB cracker that never are opened at home (they're one of my work snacks...as long as I'm not going to be around the kiddo in the next few hours).
 
KentW said:
We've had more than two dozen calls about this in the past two days. Stool cultures and Cipro all 'round! Yee-ha! :rolleyes:

I have JIF at home also. Thank God. One more reason not to shop at Wal-Mart. ;)
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Trading the Salmonella for C. Diff. So how does that work out? :smuggrin:
 
doctawife said:
And you have peanuts in your HOUSE? Are you crazy?
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Well, the dust doesn't seem to affect me. Yet.
Really I only notice it if I eat something with peanuts in it. My esophagus starts spasming, and a couple times I've needed benadryl hits.
 
Dr.McNinja said:
Well, the dust doesn't seem to affect me. Yet.
Really I only notice it if I eat something with peanuts in it. My esophagus starts spasming, and a couple times I've needed benadryl hits.
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Remember that girl who died after she kissed her boyfriend.
 
DrQuinn said:
I just had the intern present cases to me in between squirts.
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Uh, Q?

Where, exactly, did you have the poor interns present to you? Please tell me you weren't, how shall I say, sitting down on the job?

Take care,
Jeff
 
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