What are the symptoms of a gastrointestinal infection?

Gastrointestinal infection is a relatively common condition in life. When gastrointestinal infection occurs, patients will also experience obvious symptoms, such as diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, nausea, etc. Therefore, after the patient has such symptoms, they should seek medical treatment in time to avoid worsening of the disease and leading to physical collapse, which is a great threat to health.

What are the symptoms of gastrointestinal infection?

1. What are the symptoms of gastrointestinal infection?

Generally, the onset is acute, occurring several hours to 24 hours after ingestion of contaminated food. Symptoms vary in severity, including discomfort and pain in the upper and middle abdomen, and even severe abdominal cramps, anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. Because it is often accompanied by enteritis, there is diarrhea and watery stools. In severe cases, there may be symptoms such as fever, vomiting and (or) bloody stools, dehydration, shock and acidosis. Acute simple gastritis caused by drinking, irritating food and drugs often presents with symptoms of indigestion such as upper abdominal distension and discomfort, pain, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, etc. The symptoms vary in severity. Those accompanied by enteritis may have fever, colic in the lower and middle abdomen, diarrhea, etc. Physical examination shows tenderness in the upper abdomen or around the umbilicus, and hyperactive bowel sounds.

2. What is gastrointestinal infection?

Gastrointestinal infections are usually caused by microbial infections, but can also be caused by chemical poisons or drugs. Typical clinical manifestations are diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In healthy adults, gastroenteritis usually causes only discomfort and inconvenience without causing serious consequences, but in seriously ill, debilitated, young or elderly patients it can lead to life-threatening dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.

3. Causes of gastrointestinal infection

Infectious gastroenteritis can be caused by infection with viruses, bacteria, or parasites. Toxins and drugs can cause chemical gastroenteritis. Viral infection is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. There are many viruses that can cause gastroenteritis, the most common of which is rotavirus, followed by Norwalk virus, astrovirus and enteric adenovirus.