Bacterial gastroenteritis is inflammation of the stomach and intestines caused by bacteria.
Bacterial gastroenteritis can affect one person or a group of people who all ate the same food. It is commonly called food poisoning. It often occurs after eating at picnics, school cafeterias, large social gatherings, or restaurants.
The germs may get into your food (called contamination) in many ways:
Food poisoning often occurs from eating or drinking:
Many different types of bacteria can cause bacterial gastroenteritis, including:
Symptoms depend on the type of bacteria that caused the sickness. All types of food poisoning cause diarrhea. Other symptoms include:
Your health care provider will examine you for signs of food poisoning. These may include pain in the stomach and signs your body does not have as much water and fluids as it should (dehydration).
Lab tests may be done on the food or a stool sample to find out what germ is causing your symptoms. However, these tests do not always show the cause of the diarrhea.
Tests may also be done to look for white blood cells in the stool. This is a sign of infection.
You will usually recover from the most common types of bacterial gastroenteritis in a couple of days. The goal is to make you feel better and avoid dehydration.
Drinking enough fluids and learning what to eat will help ease symptoms. You may need to:
If you have diarrhea and are unable to drink or keep down fluids because of nausea or vomiting, you may need fluids through a vein (IV). Young children may be at extra risk from getting dehydrated.
If you take diuretics ("water pills"), talk to your health care provider. You may need to stop taking the diuretic while you have diarrhea. Never stop or change your medicines without first talking to your health care provider.
Antibiotics are not prescribed very often for most common types of bacterial gastroenteritis. If diarrhea is very severe or you have a weakened immune system, antibiotics may be needed.
You can buy medicines at the drugstore that can help stop or slow diarrhea.
Most people get better in a few days without treatment.
Certain rare types of E. coli can cause severe anemia, gastrointestinal bleeding or even kidney failure.
Call your health care provider if you have:
Also call your doctor if:
Take precautions to prevent food poisoning.
Infectious diarrhea - bacterial gastroenteritis; Acute gastroenteritis; Gastroenteritis - bacterial
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Sodha SV, Griffin PM, Hughes JM. Foodborne Diseases. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R, eds. Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Churchill Livingstone; 2009:chap 99.
Craig SA. Gastroenteritis. In: Marx JA, Hockberger RS, Walls RM, et al, eds. Rosen's Emergency Medicine: Concepts and Clinical Practice. 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Mosby Elsevier; 2013:chap 94.
Bhutta ZA. Acute Gastroenteritis in Children. In: Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BF, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier; 2011:chap 332.
Updated by: Todd Eisner, MD, Private practice specializing in Gastroenterology, Boca Raton, FL. Affiliate Assistant Professor, Florida Atlantic University School of Medicine. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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