Description
Acute diarrheal infection is a leading cause of outpatient visits,
hospitalizations, and lost quality of life occurring in both domestic
settings and among those traveling abroad. Th e Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention has estimated 47.8 million cases
occurring annually in the United States, at an estimated cost
upwards of US$150 million to the health-care economy ( 1,2 ).
Acute diarrhea can be defi ned as the passage of a greater number
of stools of decreased form from the normal lasting <14 days.
Some defi nitions require an individual to present with an abrupt
onset 3 or more loose or liquid stools above baseline in a 24-h
period to meet the criteria of acute diarrhea. Persistent diarrhea
is typically defi ned as diarrhea lasting between 14 and 30 days,
with chronic diarrhea generally considered as diarrheal symptoms
lasting for greater than a month. Acute diarrhea of infectious etiology
is generally associated with other clinical features suggesting
enteric involvement including nausea, vomiting, abdominal
pain and cramps, bloating, fl atulence, fever, passage of bloody
stools, tenesmus, and fecal urgency. Acute diarrheal infection is
also oft en referred to as gastroenteritis, and some acute gastrointestinal
infections may cause a vomiting predominant illness
with little or no diarrhea.