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Diarrhea is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid or watery bowel movements each day. It sometimes lasts for a few days and can cause dehydration due to the loss of fluid. It sometimes lasts for a few days and can cause dehydration due to the loss of fluid.
There are many causes of infectious diarrhea, which include viruses, bacteria and parasites. [29] Infectious diarrhea is frequently referred to as gastroenteritis . [ 30 ] Norovirus is the most common cause of viral diarrhea in adults, [ 31 ] but rotavirus is the most common cause in children under five years old. [ 32 ]
Viruses cause about 70% of episodes of infectious diarrhea in the pediatric age group. [13] Rotavirus is a less common cause in adults due to acquired immunity. [27] Norovirus is the cause in about 18% of all cases. [28] Generally speaking, viral gastroenteritis accounts for 21–40% of the cases of infectious diarrhea in developed countries. [29]
Shigella results in about 165 million cases of diarrhea and 1.1 million deaths a year with nearly all cases in the developing world. [5] In areas with poor sanitation nearly half of cases of diarrhea are due to Entamoeba histolytica. [6] Entamoeba histolytica affects millions of people and results in more than 55,000 deaths a year. [12]
The most severe symptoms tend to occur in children six months to two years of age, the elderly, and those with immunodeficiency. Due to immunity acquired in childhood, most adults are not susceptible to rotavirus; gastroenteritis in adults usually has a cause other than rotavirus, but asymptomatic infections in adults may maintain the ...
Main causes of fecal–oral disease transmission include lack of adequate sanitation (leading to open defecation), and poor hygiene practices. If soil or water bodies are polluted with fecal material, humans can be infected with waterborne diseases or soil-transmitted diseases. Fecal contamination of food is another form of fecal-oral transmission.
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Occasional deaths occur in young, previously healthy individuals because of blood volume depletion (due to dehydration), and in people who are elderly or immunocompromised. [ citation needed ] Some individuals (1–2 in 100,000 cases) develop Guillain–Barré syndrome , in which the nerves that join the spinal cord and brain to the rest of the ...