“There seems to be a direct correlation to the end of family gatherings and a spike in the number of emergency patients following the actual holidays,” said UTMB’s Dr. Robert L. Kaale, emergency department medical director. Food poisoning is often a culprit. “A lot of times people think that food poisoning happens when you eat outside of your home, at a restaurant or a café,” said Blair Brown, a clinical dietician at UTMB’s Texas Transplant Center. “Anytime food is left unheated or unchilled for more than four hours, it can start to grow bacteria.” [Link unavailable.]