Food Poisoning vs. Stomach Flu

[kastorpollux]

Ugh, both horrible... But how can you tell the difference between the two?

[CMM811]

First there is no such thing as a stomach flu. Flu is only a respitory illness. A stomach virus and food poisoning have the same symptoms and there is no way to tell really unless multiple people for sick around the same time frame and/or you see a doctor who runs a test.

[gumdropper1]

There are some ways to tell.
The most obvious is, did other people get sick at the same time? If so, points toward food poisoning.
Did other people get sick after 1 1/2 - 2 days? If so, points toward viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu).
Did vomiting happen rather suddenly, without or with only minimal nausea first? Points toward viral gastroenteritis.
Was diarrhea rather than vomiting the main symptom? If so, points toward food poisoning.
Was there a lot of diarrhea and little or no vomiting? If so, points toward food poisoning.
Was there vomiting with no diarrhea? If so, points toward viral gastroenteritis.
Did persistent diarrhea stop suddenly when the patient vomited? Points toward food poisoning.

Doug

[LouiseR]

Thanks Doug that's really useful! Also quite reassuring that food poisoning will probs be diarrhea, though I imagine it's still horrendous!
A lot of food poisoning cases are stomach virus' anyway I believe, from people infected preparing the food without having cleaned their hands. Food poisoning from contaminated or undercooked meat though would be as Doug has described.

[person54321]

Slightly over half of food bourne illnesses are norovirus according to the CDC. So technically it's food poisoning. I think what we generally mean is viral (contagious) versus bacterial (not contagious). There is unfortunately no way to tell unless you have someone perform a test, which no one will do unless an outbreak is suspected or someone's life is at risk. There is a lot more overlap of symptoms than not.