Signs of intestinal infection in adults and children and the main methods of treatment

Intestinal infections in children and adults: symptoms and treatment

Intestinal infections are a large group of pathologies, the cause of which is the penetration of pathogenic bacteria or viruses into the gastrointestinal tract. The main signs of an intestinal infection in adults and children are digestive disorders, general intoxication and increased body temperature.

Infection most often occurs due to ignoring the rules of personal hygiene, as well as insufficiently thorough processing of food products. The most complicated disease occurs in children, as well as elderly patients. How to treat an intestinal infection, and how to make an appointment with a doctor, you will learn on our website Dobrobut.com.

Causative agents of diseases and ways of their transmission

The causative agents of the pathologies of this group can be both microbes and infectious agents of a non-cellular nature - viruses. They produce toxins that cause poisoning of the body.

Bacterial pathogens of intestinal infections:

Escherichia coli and other escherichia;
salmonella;
cholera vibrio;
halophilic vibrio;
staphylococci.

Please note: Bacterial intestinal infections, which are most often diagnosed in patients, include pathologies caused by staphylococcus and salmonellosis. Such a dangerous disease as botulism belongs to another group of pathologies - food toxic infections.

Viruses:

rotavirus;
enterovirus;
adenovirus.

Important: Antibiotics are ineffective during viral intestinal infections. Drugs of this group help to destroy only bacterial microflora.

Injuries of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract are often caused by fungal microflora, as well as the simplest - giardia and dysenteric amoeba.

The main source of infection is sick people and carriers who do not have pronounced clinical manifestations. Infectious agents are excreted mainly with feces, but can enter the environment with saliva or vomit. Viruses are also transmitted by airborne droplets.

Most diseases of this group are characterized by rather high contagiousness. A person is a source of infection from the moment the first clinical signs of pathology appear until the complete disappearance of clinical symptoms, that is, recovery. Infection occurs when eating poorly washed products or food that has undergone insufficient heat treatment. Transmission of the pathogen is also possible through common objects.

Please note: Infection most often occurs when swallowing contaminated water while swimming in open water bodies.

Signs of intestinal infection in adults and children

The duration of the incubation period is from 6 hours to 2 days. The earlier the first symptoms appear, the more severe the disease is. People with weakened immunity (immunodeficiencies), children, the elderly, and people suffering from chronic alcoholism are more likely to get infected.

Syndromes that can manifest with intestinal infections:

intoxicating (including dizziness, nausea, musculoskeletal and headaches);
gastric (pain in the stomach, nausea, vomiting, which gives relief);
enteric (in the early stages – vomiting, then diarrhea);
colitic (painful tenesmus and stool with pathological impurities).

Most patients complain of abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and weakness.

Symptoms can be combined in various combinations. The degree of their manifestation depends on the type of pathogen and the general condition of the patient's body. Age, immune status and the presence/absence of chronic diseases are of great importance.

Parents often ask what to do when a child vomits without fever and diarrhea. Vomiting does not always indicate intestinal infections or poisoning. In small children, it is functional (vomiting). In some cases, there are psychogenic factors.

Other possible causes include:

pathologies of the digestive organs (problems with the gastrointestinal tract, liver, etc.);
damage to the central nervous system;
pathologies of the organs of the endocrine system (endocrine gland);
heart failure;
kidney diseases;
hypervitaminosis of vitamin D (in children of the first year of life).

When vomiting, it is necessary to put the child on his side and raise his head to avoid aspiration of vomitus. Then you should call an ambulance and give the baby frequent drinks to prevent dehydration.

It is not possible to wash the stomach (with potassium permanganate solution) and give antibiotics. Analgesics and antispasmodic drugs should not be used before the arrival of the "ambulance", as they "smooth out" the picture, which makes it difficult to make a diagnosis.

How to treat an intestinal infection

Medical tactics depend on the nature of the causative agent - it is detected during laboratory diagnostics.

Diet for intestinal infection involves removing from the diet fried, salty, spicy and fatty foods, as well as raw products of plant origin.

Patients need to drink plenty of water and take enterosorbents. Of the antibiotics, Norfloxacin is most often prescribed. Gastric syndrome requires taking Cerukal (for nausea), as well as the drugs Ranitidine or Omez. It is advisable to use products containing lacto- and bifidobacteria - Enterol, Bifidumbacterin and Enterogermin.

Symptoms and treatment of rotavirus intestinal infections largely depend on age. In children from 6 months. up to 2 years old, rotaviruses quite often cause a pathology known as "intestinal flu". In adults, the disease occurs more often in an erased form, and may even go unnoticed (but a person, nevertheless, is a source of the spread of viruses).

The acute period lasts from 3 days to 1 week. The first symptoms are an increase in temperature, fever, repeated vomiting and intense spasm-like pains in the lower abdomen. Diarrhea develops quite often, but not in 100% of cases.

Parallel with dyspeptic disorders, there are usually signs and respiratory manifestations - itching and pain in the throat, cough, nasal congestion and rhinorrhea. Specific drugs for the fight against rotaviruses have not yet been developed. Only symptomatic therapy is carried out. A similar tactic is usually followed in cases of norovirus intestinal infection.

The child should be given more liquid and not fed "due to force". In case of vomiting and diarrhea, it is necessary to use drugs to prevent dehydration (Regidron). Adults can use salted water (1 teaspoon of table salt per liter). For accelerated removal of toxins, sorbents are prescribed - activated carbon (ordinary or white), Enterosgel and Smecta. Pancreatin (enzymatic agent) and Mezym will help to cope with indigestion. With febrile body temperature values (up to 38-39), antipyretics are indicated, it is better to give them to children in the form of syrups (Nurofen, Panadol) or to administer them in the form of rectal suppositories.

Infection is quite easy to prevent.

For the prevention of acute intestinal infections, it is important to follow the following recommendations:

thoroughly wash your hands before eating, as well as after using the toilet, traveling in transport and being in other public places;
use milk and water only after preliminary boiling;
do not eat products with an expired shelf life;
do not drink raw eggs;
do not swallow water while bathing;
wash vegetables and fruits with hot water with soap and a brush.