A report, put together by Center for Foodborne Illness Research & Prevention's researchers and released on Thursday, revealed that food-borne diseases, which most people think stop after giving a short bout of stomach flu, can have long-term effects, especially in youngsters.

After a study of five most common food-borne diseases, researchers concluded that these could contribute to complications which could last all throughout a patient’s life including "kidney failure, paralysis, seizures, hearing or visual impairments and mental retardation".

According to the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 76 million people in America fall prey to food-borne illnesses every year, out of which around 325,000 are hospitalized and nearly 5,000 die; almost 50% of these are children under the age of 15.

For the sake of the study, researchers studied the Campylobacter infection, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Toxoplasma gondii, and discovered that in addition to the regular diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, vomiting, etc., all of these have long-term effect ranging from arthritis, heart and blood infections, to acute kidney failure and serious neurological problems.

In wake of the new findings, the authorities are looking to better educate people about food-borne illnesses which are otherwise taken lightly.