Threat of Reiter's Syndrome Underlies Salmonella Turkey Outreak in U.S.
The ongoing turkey Salmonella outbreak in Ohio, Michigan, Texas, Illinois and 22 other states carries with it the threat that some victims will develop serious complications and chronic illness -- the most prominent of which is Reiter's Syndrome.
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Salmonella is a bacterial pathogen that causes diarrhea and fever but can also result in Salmonella-induced chronic conditions such as aseptic reactive arthritis and Reiter‘s Syndrome, which is a combination of urethritis, conjunctivitis, and arthritis. The first symptoms may follow 3-4 weeks after onset Salmonella's acute symptoms of fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea..
In these patients, the infection may spread from the intestines to the blood stream, and then to other body sites and can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.
With help from the National Institutes of Health, law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., has assembled the following details about Reiter's Syndrome. Salmonella lawsuits we have filed in the past have benefitted victims of this dreaded complication of foodborne illness. It also can result from Campylobacter and other forms of food poisoning. Our firm is one of the very few in the country practicing extensively in food poisoning litigation and we are currently accepting cases from the Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak that the CDC warns is being caused by consumption of contaminated ground turkey.
In cases of Reiter's Syndrome, urinary symptoms usually appear within days or weeks of an infection. Low-grade fever, inflammation of the of the eye (conjunctivitis), and arthritis develop over the next several weeks. The arthritis may be mild or severe, and may affect only one side of the body or more than one joint.
Muscle and joint symptoms include:
- Achilles tendon pain
- Heel pain
- Joint pain in the large joints (hip pain, knee pain, and ankle pain are common)
- Low back pain
Eye and skin symptoms include:
- Eye discharge
- Eye pain - burning
- Eye redness
- Skin lesions on the palms and soles that may resemble psoriasis
- Small, painless ulcers in the mouth, tongue, and glans penis
Urinary and genital symptoms may include:
- Genital lesions (male)
- Incontinence
- Penis pain
- Skin redness or inflammation
- Urethral discharge
- Urinary hesitancy
- Urinary urgency
- Urination - burning or stinging
Reiter's Syndrome may go away in a few weeks, but can last for a few months or become chronic. Symptoms may return over a period of several years in up to half of the people affected.
Contact a physician or go directly to a medical facility to receive treatment for Reiter's Syndrome or any other complications that stem from Salmonella infection. For answers to legal questions about filing a claim for compensation, contact law firm PritzkerOlsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Or, send your contact information to our firm and a Salmonella lawyer will call you. Consultations are free and we don't get paid until you win your case.
