Summary
Definition
History and exam
Key diagnostic factors
- abdominal pain
- diarrhea
Other diagnostic factors
- prodrome of headache, myalgias, chills, fever
- vomiting
Risk factors
- recent foreign travel
- eating raw or undercooked meat (especially chicken)
- exposure to poultry, cattle, sheep, or other farm animals
- HIV infection
- male sex
- drinking untreated water
- drinking unpasteurized milk
- close contact with infected person
- use of proton pump inhibitors or H2 antagonists
Diagnostic investigations
1st investigations to order
- stool microscopy
- stool culture
- white blood cell count
Investigations to consider
- serum Campylobacter serology
- intestinal biopsy
- fecal microscopy
- stool Gram stain
Treatment algorithm
gastroenteritis
Contributors
Authors
Eli D. Ehrenpreis, MD, FACG, AGAF
Associate Director for Research
Internal Medicine Residency
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Park Ridge
IL
Professor of Medicine
Rosalind Franklin University Medical School
North Chicago
IL
Disclosures
EDE is CEO for E2Bio Life Sciences LLC and GI Pharmaceuticals Inc.
Acknowledgements
Dr Eli D. Ehrenpreis would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Dr Thomas Adam Wichelmann who contributed to this update. Dr Eli D. Ehrenpreis would also like to gratefully acknowledge Dr Gregory Juckett, Dr Kristin Furfari, and Professor Sarah O'Brien, the previous contributors to this topic.
Disclosures
TAW, GJ, and KF declare that they have no competing interests. SOB is the author of some references cited in this topic.
Peer reviewers
Justin T. Kupec, MD
Assistant Professor
Section of Digestive Diseases
Department of Medicine
West Virginia University
Morgantown
WV
Disclosures
JTK declares that he has no competing interests.
Stephen Morris-Jones, MBBS, MRCPath
Consultant in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology
University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Windeyer Institute of Medical Sciences
London
UK
Disclosures
SMJ declares that he has no competing interests.
Michael Bennish, MD
Senior Associate
Department of Population, Family and Reproductive Health
Bloomberg School of Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore
MD
Disclosures
MB declares that he has no competing interests.
Differentials
- Salmonella gastroenteritis
- Shigella gastroenteritis
- Yersinia gastroenteritis
More DifferentialsGuidelines
- 2017 Infectious Diseases Society of America clinical practice guidelines for the diagnosis and management of infectious diarrhea
- Diagnosis, treatment and prevention of acute diarrheal infections in adults
More GuidelinesPatient leaflets
Diarrhea in adults
Diarrhea in children
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