Did anyone else fall ill after TAM8?

The only problems I had were drying out of my sinuses and eyes; felt like an oncoming cold for a couple days while I adapted to the desert's lack of humidity. Thankfully that didn't develop into anything worse.
 
My nose bled repeatedly throughout TAM.

Other than that, I ate a lot at a lot of different places and no stomach illnesses.
 
Sore muscles, sore throat, headache, fogginess. It maybe a cold or maybe I'm just exhausted and dehydrated. I didn't stay at the South Point, spent time in the heat outside and in taxis. There was a "Dude! Bro!" party in the room next to mine that kept me from sleeping Fri & Sat nights.
 
I ate at Baja Miguel's on Friday night (chili verde), and had the runs starting Saturday morning thru Sunday evening. No headache or nausea, I just didn't feel like eating anything for 2 days and couldn't stray far from a restroom. I stayed hydrated & used gatorade and one of those Muscle Milk drinks that has other minerals in it. I was finally able to have breakfast on Monday before my drive back to LA.

I slept a bit extra during lunch on Saturday and missed a speaker or two, and missed hanging out with friends & such on Saturday night.
 
I ate most of my meals in the hotel, including cookies.

Other than being totally exhausted, I am fine. I should point out that unwashed hands can transfer e. coli and cause the same symptoms, so the bug you picked up might not have been from the food.
 
Neither my wife nor I came down with anything either.

But then we have already gone through our obligatory cold this this year, so your immune system may vary. ;)
 
kittynh said:
...(not sure how long a little food poisoning takes).....
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Depends on the actual pathogen. "Food poisoning" is tossed around inappropriately to cover anything that involves the usual GI symptoms.

True food poisoning occurs about 6-12 hours after eating and the main symptom is severe vomiting. It is the result of staph bacteria that grow in food sitting out. A few strains of this common bacteria produce a heat stable toxin in the food, so reheating, even to the usual high degree, does not destroy the toxin. Same with letting your turkey thaw on the counter. If the toxin is produced, thoroughly cooking the turkey will not destroy it.

So you consume the food with the toxin, and ~12 hours later you barf your guts out for about a day and then you are fine.

Botulism toxin grows in the absence of air if food is improperly canned. I don't think anyone needs more on that one in this thread.


Then there is the most common GI infection, noroviruses. There are many, they are highly contagious and you don't need to eat food to get them. You can get them from hand shaking and doorknobs, and maybe even through the air in some outbreaks. This is the infamous cruise ship virus, but in reality, outbreaks are very common and it's just that the cruise ships make the news when other outbreaks don't. The incubation period is about 24 hours. Some strains may take a tad longer but still fairly short.

The symptoms are nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea lasting 1-3 days.

Less common are a number of other microorganisms with some adenoviruses, some E-coli strains, salmonella and shigella being the more common. The bacterial organisms can incubate about a week on average and it is much more common for the symptoms to include fever > 101F.

Hospitalized and debilitated patients are at significant risk for enterococci and C-dif species that are drug resistant and responsible for a lot of deaths.

Infants are at risk of serious infection with rotovirus. I don't know how often older children and adults get rotovirus but anyone interested could probably look it up.



Those are the common offenders off the top of my head. I'm probably forgetting some.
 
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Gilmar said:
I ate at Baja Miguel's on Friday night (chili verde), and had the runs starting Saturday morning thru Sunday evening. ....
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It's a common belief one can identify the source by timing. Sometimes that is the case, but most often you need to get a much broader history of where people have been and what they ate and then look for foods/events in common among people with similar symptoms. It's really weak evidence to just pick out the burrito.

Now, if you had 4-5 margaritas with that burrito or taco .... ;)
 
HawaiiBigSis said:
And, not to argue with the august body of the State of Nevada (or Clark County) Health Department, but the four cases of foodborne illness I've suffered struck me within three to six hours, every time.
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That can happen. But 6-12 is more common. Occasionally it can also be as long as 24 hours.

HawaiiBigSis said:
...
And I would have difficulty believing that any type of cookie was the carrier of a foodborne illness. Raw food, poorly conserved mayonnaise-based food, or improperly cooked meat seem far more likely culprits.

And I don't think you can blame even poorly washed salad greens for getting a cold...
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Anything you put in your mouth can spread an infection, including a cold virus if the person who has the virus contaminates the thing you then put in your mouth.
 
DocM said:
No health problems so far, and I ate at various places, including the buffet.

It's no surprise that some people report problems, though. When you put 1300 people in a room and allow them close contact, you immediately have an open buffet for any germ those people may be carrying.
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Not to mention the thousands of contacts outside the convention.

Las Vegas typically sees the first influenza outbreaks every winter. It's a very big disease incubator.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
That can happen. But 6-12 is more common. Occasionally it can also be as long as 24 hours.

Anything you put in your mouth can spread an infection, including a cold virus if the person who has the virus contaminates the thing you then put in your mouth.
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It can be as long as 6 weeks for Listeria. Funny thing is, most people assume it was the last thing they ate that made them sick. In actuality, it was probably the meal before that.
 
Nice to see the plague I brought to TAM with me has spread so productively ;)

Nah, seriously, as I stated in another thread, I was pretty sick coming to TAM (nothing contagious, though), and those who saw me on Wednesday can attest to my weakened state. However, as TAM went on I got stronger and stronger, most probably due to me spending so much time in my room sleeping.

Now, I'm right as rain :)
 
Gilmar said:
I ate at Baja Miguel's on Friday night (chili verde), and had the runs starting Saturday morning thru Sunday evening.
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Had chili verde at Baja Miguel and Saturday TAM lunch, but no problem.

I did wake up every morning with a headache from cigarette smoke and dehydration -- no, I don't drink more than one or two beer -- but 30 minutes at the spa fixed that every time.

Hokulele Mom
 
Ate at Buffet, Cafe and Deli, only meal outside of there was at the Peppermill, but it had the runs (no, it was more like the sprints) BAD on Monday, but it cleared up by Tuesday and no other symptoms.

Guess I just needed a good flushing after eating so much at the Buffet (mmmmm..bacon)
 
The only (minor) illness I felt the entire time was self-inflicted, and cleared up after a large cup of strong tea. With all the traveling I do, I have pretty much learned how to eat anything without getting sick.
 
I and at least 3 other people I know felt sick on Monday after having lunch on Sunday at Baja Miguels.

They luckily had the vomit issue....I have the opposite.

But it could be from more than one restaurant as I believe they use the same kitchen.
 
Skeptic Ginger said:
Depends on the actual pathogen. "Food poisoning" is tossed around inappropriately to cover anything that involves the usual GI symptoms.

True food poisoning occurs about 6-12 hours after eating and the main symptom is severe vomiting. It is the result of staph bacteria that grow in food sitting out. A few strains of this common bacteria produce a heat stable toxin in the food, so reheating, even to the usual high degree, does not destroy the toxin. Same with letting your turkey thaw on the counter. If the toxin is produced, thoroughly cooking the turkey will not destroy it.

So you consume the food with the toxin, and ~12 hours later you barf your guts out for about a day and then you are fine.

Botulism toxin grows in the absence of air if food is improperly canned. I don't think anyone needs more on that one in this thread.


Then there is the most common GI infection, noroviruses. There are many, they are highly contagious and you don't need to eat food to get them. You can get them from hand shaking and doorknobs, and maybe even through the air in some outbreaks. This is the infamous cruise ship virus, but in reality, outbreaks are very common and it's just that the cruise ships make the news when other outbreaks don't. The incubation period is about 24 hours. Some strains may take a tad longer but still fairly short.

The symptoms are nausea, vomiting and/or diarrhea lasting 1-3 days.

Less common are a number of other microorganisms with some adenoviruses, some E-coli strains, salmonella and shigella being the more common. The bacterial organisms can incubate about a week on average and it is much more common for the symptoms to include fever > 101F.

Hospitalized and debilitated patients are at significant risk for enterococci and C-dif species that are drug resistant and responsible for a lot of deaths.

Infants are at risk of serious infection with rotovirus. I don't know how often older children and adults get rotovirus but anyone interested could probably look it up.



Those are the common offenders off the top of my head. I'm probably forgetting some.
Click to expand...

tl;dr

To be brutally honest, I wouldn't take health advice from you. I would advise others to act accordingly.
 
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Oddly, I didn't get anything at TAM. I ate the provided lunches and at least one breakfast; I also ate at Baja Miguel's and at the Coronado.

I would be amazed if, out of 1300 people, we didn't have at least 20 or so that got sick (or showed symptoms of something they brought with them) while at or immediately after the Amazing Meeting.
 
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