Infections and bacteria entering the body cause inflammation of the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines as the temperature rises. The development of gastroenteritis may be associated with other causes. For example, the reasons may be unusual food, too sharp, fatty foods, excessive alcohol consumption and more. Most syndromes of the disease are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, and bacterial and viral in this respect are practically equally divided.
The routes of transmission of the infectious agent are food, water, for household reasons, through feces and the oral route. The main syndrome of gastroenteritis is intestinal dyspepsia, manifested in bursting and swelling of the abdomen, sensations of transfusion, rumbling in the abdomen.
Gastroenteritis syndromes manifest themselves:
- diarrhea;
- pains in the upper abdomen;
- nausea, vomiting and worsening of general health, weakness.
Sometimes there may be a significant increase in temperature, dizziness and other symptoms depending on the pathogen.
Pain in gastroenteritis
In case of internal disease, the most common syndrome is abdominal pain. The type of disease is determined by the place of concentration and nature. In case of gastroenteritis, abdominal pain is concentrated in the periapical region and its upper part. The nature of the syndrome depends on the degree of damage and the causes that caused the disease. Viral gastroenteritis, which develops very rapidly, is characterized by spastic pain in the abdomen. In inflammation caused by staphylococcal bacteria, pain in the epigastric region is of a sharp cutting character.
The expansion of the intestines with accumulated gas causes a strong pain syndrome. Especially the pain gives away when performing palpation. In chronic gastroenteritis, pain in the abdomen and intestines is blunt, with occasional spasms. Often dyspepsia symptoms associated with rotavirus disease are combined with symptoms of rhinopharyngitis, rhinitis or pharyngitis and an increase in temperature.
With gastroenteritis, the temperature can vary widely, from insignificant( 37.5 ° C) to very high at 40 ° C, accompanied by fever and chills. The strongest temperature increase is observed in patients with viral gastroenteritis. In this case, abdominal pain is accompanied by a very strong swelling, which further aggravates discomfort. However, with rotavirus infectious inflammation, a high fever is diagnosed only in one fifth of the diseased. In the majority of patients with gastroenteritis, the temperature rarely exceeds 37.5 ° C, and the main symptom is aching cramping pain near the navel or epigastrium. And the inflammation of the gastric mucosa and intestines caused by picornavirus, on the contrary, begins very sharply with sudden fever, chills and an increase in temperature from 38 ° C to 40 ° C. Most often this syndrome occurs in children. A sharp rise in temperature is also characteristic of the salmonella type of the disease.
For gastroenteritis with a high temperature, fast dehydration, headaches, and in severe cases even fainting. With the causative agent of Shigella bacteria, body temperature can rise to 39 degrees. If untimely initiation of treatment of syndromes, the disease can go to a serious stage. In this case, the body temperature reaches a critical level of 40.5 ° C and a loss of consciousness. Constant nausea, severe attacks of vomiting with a simultaneous high temperature lead to a sharp dehydration of the body, refusal to eat food and water.
Diarrhea with gastroenteritis
Diarrhea, along with abdominal pain and nausea, is one of the main symptoms that can diagnose gastroenteritis. Although, in mild cases and if there is no colitis, diarrhea may be absent, and even constipation may occur. To diagnose the type of disease, great importance is the laboratory studies of feces and the nature of the stool.
Diarrhea in a viral inflammatory process occurs when the mucosal structure is disturbed. Thus in the intestine the osmotic pressure rises, the absorption of carbohydrates and other substances decreases, and the water from the tissues enters the lumen of the intestine in an excessive amount, which contributes to a strong dilution of stool masses. The form of diarrhea depends on the state of gastric digestion and the defects of enzymatic processes in the stomach and upper intestine.
If a patient has a tendency to fermental dyspepsia, faeces of a mushy, pimply appearance, light yellow color and have an acid reaction. For putrefactive dyspepsia, feces of dark color, extremely liquid with a sharp odor and having an alkaline medium are characteristic. With this syndrome, stool contains a large amount of undigested starch. With an exacerbation of the chronic form, a large number of acts of defecation are observed, reaching a severe course of the disease more than twenty every day.
Diarrhea with gastroenteritis caused by rotavirus infection is very abundant, watery, yellowish-greenish or whitish in color. The impulses for defecation are imperative and most often occur at night. Bacteriological culture of feces allows you to accurately determine the type of pathogen, its sensitivity to one or another antibiotic. Bloody diarrhea is usually caused by bacteria such as shigella, salmonella. Watery diarrhea is characteristic of bacteria that produce enterotoxin. Subacute or chronic diarrhea is a sign of a parasitic infection. Detect antigen in the stool for the diagnosis of giardiasis or cryptosporidiosis, possibly using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The appearance of a rash in gastroenteritis, indicates the allergic nature of the inflammatory process in the stomach and intestines. Most often the rash manifests itself in the form of urticaria, when the skin becomes blistered, as with nettle burn. There may be some redness of the skin, itching. The syndrome is caused by allergens of food origin and it can also be a reaction to some medications.