For those worried, Cyclospora isn't found naturally in the UK and cannot be passed on by person-to-person transmission; you can only be infected if you've eaten/drunk contaminated food/water from a country where Cyclospora thrives.
would love to know how people with the people know they’ve got this to report it, and not norovirus or bog standard (pun intended) food poisoning or whatever?
In short, they don't. It can only be recorded as cyclosporiasis (or any other infectious agent) with a stool culture. My local NHS trust are reluctant to do stool cultures for some reason
money. If you haven't been abroad, aren't losing weight and there's no blood present you have to wait until they decide you've
tit yourself enough times to warrant investigation.
As someone who already has pre-existing stomach issues, getting something like this is my worst nightmare.
There's the thing in the US with their explosive diarrhoea outbreak too, though theirs has been linked to the fast food chain Taco Bell and a specific source of lettuce.
It's highly likely the same outbreak. Taco Bell and some grocery stores used/sold lettuces sourced from a specific company with farms and processing plants based in Mexico. All but one of the recent UK cases are from people who have recently returned from the US or Mexico.
Totally with you on the anxiety. I have enough gastro issues, I don't need to add to them by eating a dodgy lettuce leaf!
