Diarrhea is a condition in which the bowel movements become loose or watery and more frequent. When severe, it can result in 10 or more watery bowel movements per day. Diarrhea can be divided into several types: acute diarrhea, chronic diarrhea, and recurrent diarrhea; Infectious Diarrhea and nonInfectious Diarrhea; inflammatory diarrhea that inflames the colon, and noninflamatory diarrhea that does not inflame the colon.
Noninflammatory:
Watery diarrhea
Nausea/vomiting
Abdominal cramps
Inflammatory:
Bloody diarrhea
Fever
Abdominal cramps
Pain in rectum after a bowel movement
Causes include viruses (rotavirus, enterovirus, adenovirus), bacteria (shigella, salmonella, E.coli), toxins produced by bacteria (as opposed to infection by the bacteria), or medications.
Acute diarrhea (noninfectious causes):
Food poisoning -- from heavy metals, scombroid (toxins from certain fish), mushrooms
Discontinuing the antibiotics for antibiotic induced diarrhea
Note: it is generally recommended not to treat Salmonella infections with antibiotics unless they are very severe.
Clostridium difficile is treated with metronidazole or vancomycin (see section on Clostridium difficile Colitis)
Hand washing
Patients should be excluded from day-care centers
Bismuth or antibiotics are sometimes recommended to prevent traveler's diarrhea, especially travel to foreign countries. Depending on where they are traveling, individuals need to check with their physician for themselves, and for their children. In underdeveloped countries, it is generally recommended to drink only bottled brand-name water, and eat only at establishments (such as hotels) with high sanitary standards.
Be especially careful with your children's hygiene -- make sure they wash their hands before handling food, and discourage unsupervised eating from street vendors. Check with your physician or the Center for Disease Control (CDC) for specific recommendations based on travel destination.
