Diarrheal DiseasesCourtney Cooper

Diarrhea(>3 loose/liquid stools per day) depletes the body of needed fluids and salts leading to dehydration

Diarrhea is often caused by ingestion of the bacteria/virus/parasite through fecal-oral or direct contact.

Three severities of diarrhea include the acute watery, acute bloody, and persistent diarrhea.

Acute watery Acute Bloody Persistent

Cholera Dysentery/Shigella Celiac’sIBS

Diarrhea can be osmotic, exudative, motility related, or inflammatory.

Identification of causes often begins with a stool culture.

Causes of Diarrhea• Bacterial gastroenteritis• Cholera• Shigella• Dysentery

• Viral gastroenteritis• Norovirus• Rotavirus

• Campylobacter• Traveler’s Diarrhea-E. coli• Clostridium Difficile

• Food poisoning• S. aureus/toxins

• Typhoid• Salmonellosis• Colon cancer• IBS• Lactose intolerance• Celiac’s disease• Hormone abnormalities• Alcohol

Clostridium difficile (C. diff) is an opportunistic bacteria with an AB toxin.

Shigellosis is a main cause of diarrhea with bloody stools, and is transmitted fecal-orally.

Shigella multiplies in and spreads through intestinal epithelial cells.

Shiga Toxin

Rotavirus is the most common cause of severe diarrhea in infants and children all over the world.

Rotavirus is one of the few causes of diarrhea with a preventative measure of a vaccine, recently developed.

There are several different simple stepsto prevent transmission.

Diarrhea is usually effectively treated by restoring fluid and salt balance

What are organizations doing?• World Health Organization conducts research, develop health

interventions, and try to manage diarrhea in developing countries.

References• http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs330/en/index.

html• http://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/hygiene/ldc/diarrheal_dise

ases.html• http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Diarrheal+dis

eases• http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/travelersdiarrh

ea_g.htm• http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/727050_3• http://ocw.tufts.edu/Content/6/CourseHome/207201/207203