In Reply to: bloody bali belly posted by sassy_shannon on Tuesday, 7. August 2007 at 12:57 Bali Time:
I think the fact that such a catchy name is used is the real problem. You don't hear about Phuket Belly or Penang Belly or the Thai Trots or the Sydney Slops, because it doesn't have the alliterative ring of Bali Belly.
According to one of the texts we have here, Travellers' Diarrhoea is attributed to bacteria "in food and water; the strains responsible are foreign to the travellers, whereas the local inhabitants are immune to them."
Other things to consider are the fact that we don't eat out for every meal when we are at home, thereby hugely increasing our chances of ingesting bacteria that are foreign to our systems. When we are preparing the food, we are most likely already exposed to (and have immunity to) the bacteria that will be present in the food beacuse it comes from us. When we eat out for every meal there is an increased chance that we will be exposed to bacteria that we don't have an immunity to.
There will always be cases where people do contract serious food poisoning, which will be due to a break down in correct food handling procedures. There are hotels in Bali that take the issue very seriously and undertake regular hygiene monitoring to minimise the risk. Remember that the hotels rely on their reputation to get return bookings, one outbreak can ruin that reputation very quickly.