What Are The Symptoms Of Gastroenteritis?
The symptoms of gastroenteritis are characterized by the inflammation that the disease produces in the gastrointestinal tract. Diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and muscle cramps are common.
According to publications in The New England Journal of Medicine , the most common cause of this pathology (90% of outbreaks in adults) are noroviruses, RNA pathogens of the Caliciviridae family .
Despite what may be suspected, most outbreaks of gastroenteritis are caused by viruses and not bacteria. Therefore, it is necessary to know the symptoms of the disease to know how to approach it with the most effective treatment.
The fatality of gastroenteritis
Various epidemiological studies estimate that there are between three and five billion cases of gastroenteritis per year throughout the world. Of course, this figure is not negligible at all. The World Health Organization (WHO) warns us that the effect of it is much more serious in children under five years of age.
Here we show you some data:
- Diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of death in children under the age of five, resulting in about 525,000 deaths a year.
- Studies confirm that at least 453,000 of these infant deaths are due to rotavirus (22% of deaths in countries such as Ethiopia or India).
- A significant proportion of these deaths could be prevented with access to drinking water and adequate sanitation in structures for public use.
- Around the world there are about 1.7 billion cases of diarrheal diseases in infants each year.
As we have seen, the most common viral agents causing gastroenteritis in adults are norovirus , while children under five years of age are more susceptible to rotavirus. If you want to differentiate the symptoms of gastroenteritis according to its causative agent, read on.
What are the symptoms of gastroenteritis?
The answer to this question depends a lot on the agent that is causing the pathology. Sources such as the United States National Library of Medicine emphasize that there are three main pathogenic vehicles: viruses, bacteria, and parasites. We show you what happens in front of each of them.
Viral gastroenteritis
According to clinical studies, viral gastroenteritis (also called stomach flu ) caused by rotavirus is usually asymptomatic in adults, with an incubation period of one to three days. In cases that manifest clinically, they last five to seven days.
Some of the symptoms regardless of the causative virus are the following:
- Watery diarrhea without blood.
- Abdominal pain and cramps.
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headaches.
- Low-grade fever, that is, mild fever, between 37 and 38 degrees Celsius.
Knowing when to consult a doctor is essential, because although these diseases do not usually require clinical interventions, they are sometimes necessary in susceptible people. For example, in both children and adults, the presence of blood in vomiting and diarrhea or the inability to retain fluids for 24 hours are more than obvious symptoms of the urgent need for treatment.
Bacterial gastroenteritis
In this case, scientific studies affirm that bacteria of the genus Campylobacter are the most common causative agents of bacterial gastroenteritis. Half of them are due to exposure to contaminated poultry meat. Others that manifest this clinical picture with their infection are Escherichia coli , Salmonella and Shigella .
The Veterans Health Library of the United States collects the general symptoms of these types of infections. Some of the most common signs are the following:
- Watery diarrhea.
- Nausea and vomiting
- Fever and chills
- Abdominal pain.
- Blood in the stool, in the most severe cases.
As we have seen, the differences between viral and bacterial gastroenteritis are minimal, although fever and blood in the stool are the most common symptoms of the latter.
Of course, the progressive worsening, the increase in fever beyond 38 degrees Celsius in a sustained way, the presence of blood in the stools and evidence of dehydration (dry mouth and absence of urine) are more than obvious signs of that a medical intervention is necessary.
Parasitic gastroenteritis
Here we move in a very wide terrain, since parasites from protozoa to tapeworms, through nematodes and other flatworms, can cause general symptoms of gastroenteritis, both in children and adults. Research shows that the symptoms of these gastroenteritis are similar to those named above. Still, new signs appear like the following:
- Anorexia and weight loss.
- Anemia.
- Vitamin deficiencies
This is because, in many cases (such as tapeworm infection), the parasite is feeding directly on the patient’s intestinal content or blood. In addition, these types of diseases tend to be more sustained over time than those named before. For example, taeniasis can last for two to three years without treatment.
Non-infectious gastroenteritis
It should be noted that not all episodes of gastroenteritis are due to infectious agents. Some situations that cause this general symptomatology are the following:
- Gluten consumption in celiac patients.
- Crohn’s disease, that is, inflammation of certain segments of the gastrointestinal tract.
- Toxin poisoning in food.
- Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
What to remember about gastroenteritis?
Although this pathology shares many obvious signs despite its diverse nature, a medical diagnosis is necessary in all severe cases to apply the most effective treatment for each patient. In general, the presence of body dehydration or blood in the stool are more than enough alarms to show that a visit to the doctor is urgent.
When asked what are the symptoms of gastroenteritis, we can say that diarrhea, abdominal pain and nausea are present regardless of the causative agent. But there will be very marked variations depending on whether the promoter of the disease is a bacterium, a virus or a parasitic agent.
