Acute Diarrhea
Most of the cases of acute diarrhea (as many as more than 90%) are caused by some infectious agents. Diarrhea due to some infectious agents generally produce symptoms such as fever, vomiting and pain in the abdomen. The rest of (less than 10% of the cases of acute diarrhea) the cases of acute diarrhea are caused by ingestion of toxic substances, medications (there are many drugs or medicines which produce diarrhea as side effect, such as broad spectrum antibiotics by reducing normal flora), ischemia and others conditions.
Infectious agents which can cause acute diarrhea are mostly acquired by humans through fecal-oral route, either by ingestion of contaminated water or food. Water or food generally get contaminated by pathogens from the human or animal feces. There are approximately 500 different species of microflora in the intestines of normal human beings with normal immunity. These microflora rarely, if ever cause acute diarrhea in immunocompetent persons, and they may actually help by suppressing the growth of pathogenic organisms, including the pathogenic organisms which can cause diarrhea. The normal microflora, if disturbed by some antibiotics may cause acute diarrhea by increased growth of pathogens like Clostridium difficile as well as by reducing digestive capacity of humans.
Acute diarrhea due to pathogenic infectious agents can lead to even injury to the mucosa of intestines by breaking the immune as well as non immune defenses. The non immune defenses in the intestine are peristalsis, mucus secretion, gastric acids, digestive enzymes and the normal microflora of intestines.
Related posts:
- The Global Burden of Diarrhea
- Diarrhea after International Travel
- Causes of Chronic Diarrhea
- Vitamin D Synthesis: Acute Effect of Sun Exposure
- Self-Treatment of Traveler’s Diarrhea
- Prevention of Traveler’s Diarrhea
- Traveler’s Diarrhea
- Treatment of Traveler’s Diarrhea
- Sunburn: Acute Effect of Sun Exposure
