Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis – General Information

Gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection which is characterized by some exact symptoms such as abdominal cramps, diarrhea, vomiting, fever and nausea. It usually appears after a direct contact with another infected individual or after eating some contaminated products or drinking contaminated water. If the sufferer’s general health condition is good, then this disorder will be easy to treat, without any complications. However, if the disease affects young children, old people or people with a weak immune system, then the recovery process can take a long period of time; in extreme cases, Gastroenteritis can even result in sudden death. A proper and effective treatment for this disease is yet not found, so people should pay a lot of attention in order to prevent the appearance of this disorder.  In order to do so, people should be aware of the most frequent causes of Gastroenteritis and the viruses which usually lead to the development of it: rotaviruses and noroviruses.  In what concerns the infection with a rotavirus, this is more common in the case of children, because they come in contact with infected objects more frequently. They usually put their infected fingers in the mouth and ingest the virus. On the other hand, this virus causes no significant symptoms in the case of an adult; however, an adult can spread it even though he does not develop the disease. Noroviruses can appear in a large number of forms, but they all cause the same complications: headaches, fever, fatigue muscle aches, nausea and vomiting. This type of virus affects both children and adults.

Gastroenteritis – Symptoms

Even though Gastroenteritis is usually associated with stomach flu, the symptoms which characterize each of them are quite different. In addition, the stomach flu affects all the respiratory system (the throat, the nose and the lungs), whereas this disease affects the intestines. The most common signs and symptoms which have been reported are the following: watery diarrhea (in the case of a severe infection, the patient can present bloody diarrhea), vomiting, abdominal pain, nausea, abdominal cramps, fever, headaches and muscle aches. In most of the cases, the symptoms appear during the first four days after the infection and their severity vary form a patient to another. Usually, the symptoms do not last for a long period of time (about 4-5 days). There are a number of risk factors which can increase the possibility of developing Gastroenteritis, as this disease can occur at people of every race, age or medical history. This disease is actually a main cause of the sudden death which occurs in the case of young children. The most likely to develop this disorder are the adults who live in nursing homes and the babies in the child care centers. On the other hand, those who present a weak immune system are also at high risk. The most important thing people should know is the fact that this infection can appear anywhere in the world and in the habitual conditions, but it is more likely to appear if you live in a small space. The viruses, however, are most active just in a certain period of the year.

Gastroenteritis – Treatment

If you develop one or more of the symptoms described above, you should visit a doctor as soon as possible in order to obtain a sure diagnosis. There are, however, other situations when a person should seek for medical care. In the case of an adult, he should see a doctor if he notices any of the following complications: he has been vomiting for more than 48 hours, he is dehydrated (he feels excessive dry mouth or thirst or he experiences weakness, lightheadedness or dizziness), he experiences high fever or he has been vomiting blood. In the case of a child, the parent should be concern and consult a doctor when the baby experiences high fever, he feels extreme pain and general discomfort, he seems irritable or dehydrated or he vomits a lot. In order to obtain a sure diagnosis and to decide whether a patient suffers from Gastroenteritis or not, the doctor will probably ask all about the patient’s symptoms and signs and other recent changes in his general health condition. In most of the cases, the doctor will also recommend a physical examination and some tests to detect the presence of a virus, a parasitic or bacterial infection.

There is, however, no certain treatment for Gastroenteritis; if the infection is caused by a virus, the patient will be probably administrated antibiotics in order to eliminate the virus. The most part of the treatment is the self-care. In some cases, those who suffer from Gastroenteritis can also experience some complications. The most common of these is dehydration, but it can be prevented quite easy if the patient drinks a sufficient quantity of liquids to be able to replace those that he losses when vomiting. Dehydration is more complicated to treat when it affects young children; in such situations, the doctor will probably recommend a few days of hospitalization to ameliorate the problem. If not treated properly, dehydration can result in death. In order to diminish the possibility of suffering from Gastroenteritis, people should be informed about the ways in which they can prevent an intestinal infection. The most common preventive measure consists of washing your hands whenever you need to, especially after you have been using the bathroom. Parents should make sure that their children do the same thing. In addition, those who live in the same house with other people should use different personal items, such as different glasses, different plates and different towels. If you suspect anybody of suffering from this disease, you should avoid the contact with that person as mush as possible. Gastroenteritis is likely to develop during travels, so a person who travels quite often should take some special preventive measures. He should drink only carbonated water from sealed bottles, he should avoid the ice cubs which can also come form contaminated water and he should also avoid raw foods and undercooked ones. However, the best preventive measure is to get vaccinated against the viruses which are known to cause this disease. The vaccine, however, is available only in some areas.