What is acute gastroenteritis

In life, everyone must be familiar with the disease of gastroenteritis. You may have heard about it from people around you or your relatives and friends may have been sick. Gastroenteritis is a disease with a high incidence rate. As the name suggests, it is various discomforts caused by gastrointestinal inflammation, such as abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, etc. In clinical medicine, it is mainly divided into acute gastroenteritis and chronic gastroenteritis. This article briefly introduces the causes and treatments of acute gastroenteritis.

Acute gastroenteritis is an acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, with the main clinical manifestations being nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, etc. This disease is common in summer and autumn, and is mostly caused by improper diet, overeating, or eating raw, cold, rotten, dirty and unclean food.

Causes

1. Infection by bacteria and toxins

The most common infections are Salmonella and halophilic bacteria (Vibrio parahaemolyticus), the most common toxin is Staphylococcus aureus, and viruses can also be seen. There are often cases of collective outbreaks or multiple outbreaks in families. The disease can be caused by eating contaminated poultry, livestock meat, or fish; eating seafood such as crabs and snails where halophilic bacteria grow; or eating leftovers or rice contaminated by Staphylococcus aureus.

2. Physical and chemical factors

Eating raw or cold food or certain medicines such as salicylates, sulfonamides, certain antibiotics, etc.; or accidentally ingesting strong acids, strong alkalis and pesticides can all cause this disease.

Treatment and examination

Routine stool examination and stool culture; white blood cell count may be normal or abnormal.

1. General treatment

Rest in bed as much as possible. If the condition is mild, take glucose-electrolyte solution orally to replenish the loss of body fluids. If vomiting persists or dehydration is obvious, intravenous supplementation of 5%-10% glucose saline and other relevant electrolytes is required. Encourage intake of light liquids or semi-liquid foods to prevent dehydration or treat mild dehydration.

2. Symptomatic treatment

If necessary, antiemetics and antispasmodics can be injected, such as belladonna, 3 times a day. Antidiarrheal drugs: such as Smecta, 2 to 3 times a day.

3. Antimicrobial treatment

The role of antibiotics in the treatment of this disease is controversial. For infectious diarrhea, targeted antibiotics can be appropriately selected. But abuse should be prevented.

prevention

Strictly controlling food hygiene is the key to preventing this disease. Maintaining good diet, drinking water hygiene and feces management, and vigorously eliminating flies are fundamental measures to prevent the disease. Keep raw and cooked food separate in the refrigerator, and cook them thoroughly before eating.

Washing hands before meals and after defecation, disinfecting vegetables and fruits before eating raw, and choosing clean and hygienic restaurants when going on vacation are all effective preventive measures that should be taken.