Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A stool test is a medical diagnostic technique that involves the collection and analysis of fecal matter. Microbial analysis (culturing), microscopy and chemical ...
Cultures of stool samples are examined to identify the organism causing dysentery. Usually, several samples must be obtained due to the number of amoebae, which changes daily. [ 17 ] Blood tests can be used to measure abnormalities in the levels of essential minerals and salts .
In some cases, the infection can lead to more severe complications such as intestinal obstruction or inflammation. Echinostomiasis is diagnosed by examining stool samples for the presence of adult worms or eggs. Treatment typically involves the use of anthelmintic medications such as praziquantel or albendazole.
In asymptomatic infections, the amoeba lives by eating and digesting bacteria and food particles in the gut, a part of the gastrointestinal tract. [9] It does not usually come in contact with the intestine itself due to the protective layer of mucus that lines the gut. Disease occurs when amoeba comes in contact with the cells lining the intestine.
Symptoms of this infection include diarrhea with blood and mucus, and can alternate between constipation and remission, abdominal pain, and fever. Symptoms can progress to ameboma, fulminant colitis, toxic megacolon, colonic ulcers, leading to perforation, and abscesses in vital organs like liver, lung, and brain.
A study on parasites in stool samples in the United States during 2000 found blastocystosis to be the most common parasitic infection in the population, occurring in 23% of individuals. [90] [92] A Canadian study of samples received in 2005 identified Blastocystis as the most prevalent protozoal infection identified. [91]
Signs and symptoms of CDI range from mild diarrhea to severe life-threatening inflammation of the colon. [16]In adults, a clinical prediction rule found the best signs to be significant diarrhea ("new onset of more than three partially formed or watery stools per 24-hour period"), recent antibiotic exposure, abdominal pain, fever (up to 40.5 °C or 105 °F), and a distinctive foul odor to the ...
Routes of exposure and infection include ingestion of undercooked meat, drinking infected water, fecal–oral transmission and skin absorption. Some types of helminths and protozoa are classified as intestinal parasites that cause infection—those that reside in the intestines. These infections can damage or sicken the host (humans or other ...