Among all types of infectious diseases, the most common is the group of acute intestinal infections. This is a number of pathologies that are caused by dozens of pathogens known to mankind. From year to year, intestinal diseases affect hundreds of millions of people. Despite the fact that the mortality rate for this pathology is low, the disease proceeds severely, manifested by dehydration, high fever, persistent dyspeptic disorders.
According to statistics, in Russia acute intestinal infections are the third most common ailment affecting both children and adults. On average, there are about 1,000 cases of the disease per 200 thousand people. About everything related to acute intestinal infections, symptoms and treatment of this ailment, you will learn from this article.
Disease mechanism
You do not need to have a tremendous knowledge of the causative agents of intestinal disorder in order to understand why the diseases of this group are so common. It’s all about the ubiquity of infection. On the one hand, pathogenic agents that cause the pathological process manage to get into our body without difficulty. To do this, it is enough for a person to eat a washed apple, drink water from a tap or forget to wash his hands after visiting the restroom.
On the other hand, everything is not so clear. There are many barriers to microbes that try to enter the intestines. The most significant is lysozyme. This is a substance that is present in saliva and has a bactericidal property. Most pathogens entering our oral cavity are destroyed. Microbes can pass this protective redoubt only if the immune system is not strong enough.
But even if the infection overcomes this obstacle and still enters the stomach, there she will have to face another “problem” - hydrochloric acid, which is contained in the gastric juice. The causative agent of acute intestinal infection, overcoming the epigastric region, will meet with another test within the intestinal walls. This time we are talking about obligate flora - bifidobacteria and lactobacilli, which suppress any aggressive effect of pathogenic microflora and do not allow it to multiply.
Why does the disease develop?
Sometimes the human immune system may not be able to defend itself properly. If the body's defenses are weakened for any reason (for example, due to a long illness, vitamin deficiency, malnutrition), a healthy intestinal flora does not cope with the pathogenic agent. Harmful microbes begin to multiply rapidly, which causes the development of acute intestinal infection. This disease is most often found in children, the elderly, people suffering from congenital or acquired immunodeficiency. Doctors consider a predisposing condition for the occurrence of pathology to be violations of the digestive tract, alcohol dependence, and non-observance of basic hygiene.
Infection, that is, the ingestion of the pathogen into the body, always occurs through the oral route, that is, through the mouth. The reason for the penetration of pathogenic microbes into the body is the use of unwashed vegetables and fruits, the use of dirty household items, swimming in open water.
Classification of ailment
There are a lot of varieties of the disease. Depending on the pathogen, several groups of acute intestinal infections are distinguished. It:
- Bacterial - occupy a huge percentage of the incidence rate. The most common among bacterial intestinal infections are dysentery, salmonellosis, escherichiosis, cholera, botulism. This category also includes pathologies provoked by infection with clostridia, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella.
- Viral - acute intestinal infections caused by adenoviruses, rotaviruses, coronaviruses and other agents. Sometimes this disease is called "intestinal flu."
- Fungal - extremely rarely diagnosed. In a predominant number of cases, the causative agent is a fungus of the genus Candida.
- Protozoal - intestinal disorder develops against the background of the reproduction of parasites that have settled in the body, including protozoa amoeba, lamblia and others.
How to recognize an infection
Any contagious disease develops rapidly. Often, from the moment a pathogenic agent enters the body and until the first signs of the disease appear, less than a day passes. An acute intestinal infection can manifest itself as a toxic syndrome or provoke a serious malfunction of the entire digestive system and gastrointestinal tract.
If the disease develops according to the first scenario, the patient has characteristic symptoms. For example, with a staph infection, a short-term fever appears, and with cholera, the body temperature may even remain stable, not even rising to subfebrile values. Secondary clinical signs of the toxic syndrome are dizziness, weakness, body aches, pallor of the skin, nausea.
The development of intestinal syndrome cannot be confused with anything. The patient has an upset stool, abdominal pain. The symptoms of acute intestinal infection will differ depending on the type of infection.
Intestinal syndrome and its manifestations
Most therapists classify the course of the disease according to the following criteria:
- Gastritis syndrome. It is characterized by pain in the epigastric region, ongoing nausea and vomiting, which does not bring relief. In this case, you can provoke a vomiting even with a normal sip of water. The nature of the stool also changes - feces become liquid.
- Gastroenteritis syndrome. In this case, aching and exhausting pain is localized in the navel. The feces become mushy, and if untreated, become watery. Yellowish feces indicate infection with Escherichia, and greenish ones cause suspicion of salmonellosis. The appearance of mucus and fragments of undigested food in excrement is not excluded. Gastroenteritis develops with rotavirus infection.
- Enteritis Syndrome Patients note the absence of pain. The only manifestation of enteritis is frequent watery diarrhea. By the way, this is how cholera manifests itself.
- Gastroenterocolitis syndrome. Patients rapidly develop diarrhea, and pain in the intestine does not leave even for a minute. It is also possible the appearance of blood streaks in the feces, profuse and prolonged vomiting. With the appearance of this syndrome, salmonellosis is likely to occur.
- Enterocolitis Syndrome. Sharp pain spreads throughout the abdomen. With enterocolitis, patients complain of loose foamy stool with mucus. This symptom complex suggests dysentery and Escherichiosis.
- Colitis syndrome. Aching left-sided pain and false urge to defecate also characterize intestinal infection, while the patient does not feel any easier even after visiting the toilet.
What is the danger in childhood
Symptoms of acute intestinal infection in children are important to recognize as early as possible. Kids can hardly tolerate such diseases. Intestinal infections threaten children with such a dangerous consequence as dehydration. This is the main reason dysentery, salmonellosis, cholera and other infections are considered deadly for babies. When diagnosing acute intestinal infection in children, treatment is carried out in the infectious diseases ward of the medical institution. The disease is contagious, therefore it is extremely important to protect the sick child from contact with healthy children.
Unlike adult patients, who often have to deal with the bacterial form of the disease, in children, acute intestinal infections of viral etiology are mainly confirmed. In addition, the immaturity of the immune system plays a significant role in the development of childhood intestinal infections, so even conditionally pathogenic microorganisms can provoke a disorder.
Consequences and Complications
Intestinal infection without timely treatment carries a serious threat. Among the complications that develop with this disease, dehydration is paramount - this is a condition in which the body rapidly loses fluids and salts due to prolonged vomiting and diarrhea. Dehydration is divided into several stages by doctors. Extreme thirst and dryness of the skin, mucous membranes, lowering blood pressure and heart rate may indicate a critical fluid deficiency in the body.
In the absence of proper therapeutic support, the consequences of dehydration can be:
- Dehydration shock. This life-threatening condition, which develops against the background of a critical decrease in blood pressure and loss of water in the body, without treatment will inevitably lead to death.
- Toxic shock. It occurs due to an increase in the concentration of toxic substances in the body and a lightning fast drop in blood pressure.
- Acute renal failure.
- Inflammation of the lungs (pneumonia).
How to help
Regardless of the etiology of acute intestinal infections, care should be provided to the patient without delay. With the appearance of several characteristic symptoms, you should consult a doctor or call an ambulance. Before the arrival of specialists, you can improve the patient's condition by adhering to the following algorithm of actions.
First of all, you need to rinse the stomach. To facilitate the well-being of the patient, it is necessary to remove toxic substances from his body that are formed as a result of the vital activity of pathogenic microflora. To do this, you need to drink at least 1 liter of water in one gulp, and then cause an emetic attack by pressing on the root of the tongue. At the same time, experts strongly do not recommend using a solution of potassium permanganate. According to medical experts, the effect in this case will not exceed ordinary water, but if the dosage is incorrect, it is likely to cause a burn of the esophagus mucosa.
After the stomach is cleansed, the patient is given adsorbing agents. The most popular and inexpensive drug from this group is Activated Carbon. You can also use Sorbeks, White coal, Smectu. In addition, abundant drinking is the basis for treating acute intestinal infections. It is important to prevent dehydration, and for this you need to give the patient a lot of fluid. You can drink not only water, but also weak tea, herbal decoction, unsweetened compote of dried fruits, rose hips. It is not necessary to drink liquid in large quantities, the main thing, on the contrary, is to take at least a sip every 5-10 minutes.
What can not be done
So that self-medication does not cause a deterioration in well-being with symptoms such as cramping abdominal pain, fever and frequent loose stools, in no case:
- Do not take painkillers. Similar manifestations can occur with appendicitis or gallstone disease, and these diseases are treated, as a rule, surgically, antibiotics and sorbents can not do here. Antispasmodics and painkillers will smear the true clinical picture, due to which it will be difficult for a specialist to make a diagnosis.
- Do not take antidiarrheal agents for symptoms of acute intestinal infection in children or adults. These include Immodium, Loperamide and their analogues, which instead of removing toxins from the body, fasten the stool, increasing the length of their stay in the intestine.
- Do not put a warm heating pad on your stomach. This method can give only short-term relief and turn into serious complications.
- Do not use folk remedies without the permission of a doctor.
Survey
Diagnosis of acute intestinal infection will help to determine the type of pathogen and make a competent treatment. At the reception, the specialist conducts a survey of the patient, is interested in what he ate in the last 24 hours. Then the patient is given a direction to undergo a set of laboratory and clinical procedures.
To determine the nature of the infection, a detailed blood test is done. Research will help determine the form of the disease. Acute intestinal infection can lead to a deficiency of electrolytes in the body, which is confirmed by the results of a biochemical blood test. It is equally important to conduct a study of feces (bacillus) to determine the sensitivity of pathogenic microflora to a specific group of antibiotics. In parallel with these procedures, the patient will have to pass a urine test, which will assess the condition of the kidneys, which are sensitive to intoxication and any infection process in the body.
Ultrasound of the liver, pancreas, bladder, and kidneys will help to eliminate complications from acute intestinal infection. Patients in whom the disease has led to dehydration and impaired water-electrolyte balance, it is necessary to undergo an ECG to detect heart rhythm failures.
Hospital treatment
Patients with suspected intestinal infection are recommended to be hospitalized. If the disease is diagnosed in a child, there is no alternative to hospitalization. As for adults, the question of isolation for the period of treatment of acute intestinal infection depends on the severity of the disease. In cases where there is a high probability of infection of family members and there is no possibility of home isolation, it is advisable for the patient to undergo treatment in a hospital.
Therapy for intestinal infection is based on the principle of therapeutic diet. The patient is prescribed "Table No. 4". This diet in the acute period of the disease allows the use of weak meat broths and mucous soups, mashed low-fat fish, mashed meat, softened crackers, baked apples.
Dairy products, pickled and canned foods, seasonings and spices, coffee and alcohol are most strictly prohibited. After the patient’s condition is stabilized, it is necessary to return to the usual style of nutrition with extreme caution, gradually introducing familiar products into the daily menu for a month. Throughout the treatment period, the patient is shown bed rest.
Medications for acute intestinal infection
To compensate for the lack of fluid in the patient, he is shown rehydration treatment. With intense vomiting, the patient is injected parenterally, that is, intravenously. If bouts of vomiting do not return within six hours, the liquid funds are taken orally ("Rehydron", "Hydrovit", "Reosolan", "Trisol"). The amount of fluid that each person needs is calculated individually based on weight. For one kilogram of body weight, you need to drink at least 30 ml of water or other drinks throughout the day.
The complex of drug therapy for acute intestinal infection includes drugs of the following groups:
- enterosorbents (Lactofiltrum, Enterosgel, Bactisubtil and others);
- intestinal antiseptics ("Nifuroxazide", "Intetrix", "Enterofuril");
- probiotics (Linex, Bifiform, Acipol and others);
- enzyme preparations (Mezim, Creon, Pancreatin and others).
- antibiotics (Amicil, Klaforan, Cefabol, Norfloxacin, Ofloxacin, Ciprolet, Gentamicin, Neomycin).
In most cases, timely treatment allows the patient to recover quickly and without complications. It is extremely rare that the pancreas, liver, and bile duct function become the outcome of the disease.
Prevention
Pathogens enter the human body by the oral route along with food, water, as well as in contact with an infected person or animal. To avoid infection, it is imperative to take the following as rules:
- before eating meat, subjected to thorough heat treatment;
- drink unpasteurized milk only after boiling;
- make sure that in the refrigerator raw meat and poultry are not stored in the immediate vicinity with ready meals;
- when swimming in a pond, pool, bath, do not swallow water;
- observe basic hygiene rules - wash hands after the street and visit the toilet.