Gastroenteritis: Symtoms, causes and courses
Gastroenteritis: Symtoms, causes and courses.
Gastroenteritis symptoms causes courses. Symptoms, causes and course of gastroenteritis
Acute gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the mucous membrane of the digestive tract that causes diarrhea and frequently abdominal pain and vomiting. It is most often viral and therefore very contagious. It can also be bacterial or parasitic. Click here to join us
Gastroentiritis, symptoms, causes and courses of gastroentiritis, how to treat gastroentiritis
GASTROENTERITIS IN ADULTS: DEFINITION AND SYMPTOMS
Acute gastroenteritis is a gastrointestinal infection caused by various viruses, bacteria or parasites.
After an incubation period of 24 to 72 hours, gastroenteritis manifests itself by an acute diarrhea of sudden appearance.
This diarrhea is characterized by
an increase in the frequency of stools with more than three stools in 24 hours,
a change in the consistency of the stool, with the stool becoming soft or liquid.
Diarrhea can be accompanied by:
nausea and/or vomiting,
abdominal pain (cramps),
moderate fever,
and sometimes red blood in the stool (rectorrhagia).
A more serious form of gastroenteritis
A dysenteric syndrome is defined by discharge of mucus and blood through the anus, which may be separated from the stool. It is usually associated with pain in the lower abdomen and anus.
CAUSES OF GASTROENTERITIS Gastroenteritis symptoms causes courses.
The symptoms of gastroenteritis are due to an inflammation of the mucous membranes lining the intestine.
This inflammation is caused by :
usually a virus (frequently rotavirus or adenovirus). It is the viral gastroenteritis which rages in the form of epidemics rather in winter;
but sometimes by a bacterium (E coli, Salmonella, Shigella for example), it is the bacterial gastroenteritis. It is more frequent during a stay in a country where the level of hygiene is less high: it is the traveler’s diarrhea or « tourista » or « turista », most often due to the bacteria Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica or Shigella dysenteriae. Diarrhea affects up to 50% of travelers during a three-week stay;
or a parasite most often during a trip (intestinal parasitosis caused by amoebas or the intestinal parasite Giardia, for example).
There are other causes of diarrhea. Gastroenteritis symptoms causes courses
Gastroenteritis is called « acute » diarrhea because it lasts less than two weeks.
There are other causes of diarrhea:
Some drugs (antibiotics, antacids, colchicine, digitalis, anti-cancer chemotherapy, anti-inflammatory drugs for example) can modify the intestinal microbiota and cause acute diarrhea without fever that stops when the treatment is stopped.
In case of food allergy, an acute diarrhea can occur when taking the food in question. Treatment is based on avoiding the food.
A stressful situation can sometimes be responsible for an episode of diarrhea.
Diarrhea may be the beginning of celiac disease, Crohn’s disease, or ulcerative colitis, but in these diseases, the diarrhea does not stop until the disease is managed.
MODES OF TRANSMISSION OF GASTROENTERITIS
Transmission of viruses, bacteria, or parasites that cause gastroenteritis occurs through :
direct contact between a person and another person who is already sick ;
food contaminated by a sick person (pastries, minced meat, ready-made meals, shellfish, unpasteurized dairy products…) or contaminated water: this is called food poisoning;
contact with objects on which fine particles of stool from sick people have been deposited.
Gastroenteritis is favored by living in communities and collective catering, which explains the occurrence of major epidemics of gastroenteritis, especially viral.
THE EVOLUTION OF GASTROENTERITIS Gastroenteritis symptoms causes courses
Viral gastroenteritis generally lasts less than three days, heals without treatment and does not reappear in the short term. Bacterial or parasitic diarrhea requires antibiotic or antiparasitic treatment and often heals only after one or two weeks of evolution.
Acute adult diarrhea, especially if accompanied by vomiting, can lead to complications such as dehydration, especially in the elderly or those with chronic illnesses.
THE SENTINELLES NETWORK MONITORS THE FREQUENCY OF ACUTE DIARRHEA IN FRANCE
The Sentinelles network estimates that nearly 4 million people visited a general practitioner for acute diarrhea in 2017.
Of those observed by the network:
59% were adults between 15 and 59 years of age;
nearly 9% were 60 years and older.
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