Chemotherapy
-
Review Comparative Study
Traveler's diarrhea: clinical presentation and prognosis.
Traveler's diarrhea is usually a short, self-limiting illness lasting on average 3-5 days. The illness may present either as (1) acute watery diarrhea, (2) diarrhea with blood (dysentery) or (3) chronic diarrhea, often with clinical evidence of fat or carbohydrate malabsorption. ⋯ Antibiotics can reduce the severity and duration of the illness and are always indicated for dysenteric shigellosis and amoebiasis. Oral rehydration therapy is the mainstay for managing water and electrolyte depletion.
-
Diarrhea represents a major health problem for travelers to developing countries. Although the syndrome is usually self-limited and recovery occurs in the majority of cases without any specific form of therapy, there is a need for safe and effective ways of preventing and treating it. Since the syndrome is most often caused by an infection acquired by ingesting fecally contaminated food or beverages, precautions regarding dietary habits remain the cornerstone of prophylaxis, but dietary self-restrictions do not always translate to reduced rates of diarrheal illness. ⋯ Others (e.g. nifuroxazide or rifaximin), which have been found effective in various homeland forms of infective diarrhea deserve to be evaluated in specifically designed clinical trials. Persons visiting developing countries where the risk of traveler's diarrhea is high should be recommended to bring an antidiarrheal compound or bismuth subsalycilate, if available, and an antibacterial agent. For infants, children and the elderly, in whom dehydration may occur rapidly and be particularly dangerous, oral rehydration solutions are indicated.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)