Man Almost Dies From Deadly Infection After Eating Leftover Seafood He Kept Overnight

Last Updated on 2020-01-15 , 10:59 pm

I know the feeling of overestimating how much I can eat.

You scoop out a little too much rice for your meal and there’s still so much left when you’re bloated from food.

Image: Giphy

Sorry, mom.

If you know your stuff, storing the leftovers can be useful in saving food and maybe even whipping up something like fried rice.

But when you don’t…extremely bad things can happen to you.

Leftovers To Almost Left Dead

Almost, because I’m going to be really upset if he did.

According to World Of Buzz, a 72-year-old man in Shanghai ate seafood that was no longer fresh and almost died from it.

The food consumed was stored overnight on Nov 21 as he did not want to waste food.

Image: Evening Standard

The symptoms came soon after and in the most explosive way.

At first, he suffered from abdominal pain and diarrhoea before getting a fever of 38.6°C.

He went to the doctor and took some fever medicine, which helped to drop his temperature temporarily.

So far nothing seems that bad, right?

But then he was diagnosed with acute gastroenteritis and was sent to the hospital on Nov 23.

Image: Giphy

However, when he arrived at Xinhua Hospital in Shanghai, his condition worsened as he appeared dazed and in a confused state.

The old man is currently in critical condition and is being monitored by the doctors despite his temperature normalising.

All of this sounds really scary but the scarier part is what the old man was actually suffering from.

Sepsis

I’m already cringing in fear about writing this one.

Doctors say that he was suffering from sepsis, also known as blood infection.

His blood was infected with gram-negative bacteria. Left untreated, this could have led to organ failure or even death.

Image: Giphy

The doctor said that the sepsis was likely due to bacteria on the food that entered the man’s system through wounds in his mouth when he ate them.

Which now begets the question, “How do I store leftover seafood and not have it kill me?”

Also important for me to note as well.

Safe storage of seafood

Leftover cooked seafood should be refrigerated as soon as possible and consumed within one or two days.

If cold or hot seafood has been left out at temperatures between 4°C and 40°C for longer than two hours, throw it away asap.

I love a good crab as much as the next Singaporean but eating badly stored leftovers isn’t going to end well for anybody.

Eating responsibly could save your life, good reader.