Gastroenteritis

Question 1

What is gastroenteritis?

Answer 1

inflammation of the GI tract

Question 2

What are the symptoms of gastroenteritis?

Answer 2

Diarrhoea, vomiting and abdominal pain

Question 3

What is the most common cause of gastroenteritis?

Answer 3

Viral

Question 4

What do times of ingestion of food compared to development of symptoms reveal about the cause?

Answer 4

Bacterial toxins- hours, viruses- days, bacteria- weeks and parasites-months

Question 5

What is Diarrhoea?

Answer 5

3 or more loose stools or stools with increased liquid per day

Question 6

What is acute diarrhoea?

Answer 6

lasting less than 14 days

Question 7

What is chronic diarrhoea?

Answer 7

lasting more than 14 days

Question 8

What is dysentery?

Answer 8

Gastroenteritis characterised by loose stools with blood and mucus

Question 9

What is travellers diarrhoea?

Answer 9

More than 3 loose stools commencing within 24 hours of foreign travel, with to without cramps, nausea fever or vomiting, usually due to Enterotoxigenic E coli

Question 10

What are the risk factors for gastroenteritis?

Answer 10

Poor food preparation, handling and cooking, immunocompromise, poor personal hygiene

Question 11

What are the typical features of gastroenteritis?

Answer 11

Cramp-like abdominal pain and diarrhoea, may have blood or mucus, vomiting, pyrexia, night sweats, weight loss, dehydration

Question 12

What specific features should you ask about in a history of expected gastroenteritis?

Answer 12

Bowel movements
Affected family or friends
recent travel
antibiotics (c diff)

Question 13

What investigations need to be done for gastroenteritis?

Answer 13

stool culture may be needed if mucus or blood

Question 14

How is gastroenteritis managed?

Answer 14

Rehydration, education, exclusion from work, notifiable

Question 15

What are the viruses that may cause gastroenteritis?

Answer 15

Norovirus, Rotavirus, Adenovirus

Question 16

What are the bacteria that may cause gastroenteritis?

Answer 16

Campylobacter, Ecoli, Salmonella, Shigella

Question 17

What are the bacteria toxins that can cause gastroenteritis?

Answer 17

Staphlococcus aureus, bacillus cereus, clostridium perfinges, vibro cholera

Question 18

How long do bacterial toxins gastroenteritis usually last?

Answer 18

Less than 24 hours

Question 19

What kind of parasites cause gastroenteritis?

Answer 19

Cryptospoidium, entamoeba histolytic, Giardia intestinalis, Schistosoma

Question 20

What pathogen usually causes hospital acquired gastroenteritis?

Answer 20

C difficile

Question 21

How does C diff usually develop?

Answer 21

after broad spectrum antibiotics disrupt the normal microbiota of the bowel

Question 22

What exotoxins does C diff produce?

Answer 22

A and B

Question 23

What do exotoxins cause to happen in C diff?

Answer 23

inflammatory response causing inflammatory exudate on the colonic mucosa which causes severe bloody diarrhoea

Question 24

What can a complication of C diff be?

Answer 24

Toxic megacolon

Question 25

What are the investigations for C diff?

Answer 25

c difficile toxin

Question 26

What is the treatment for c diff?

Answer 26

IV rehydration and oral metronidazole

Question 27

What are some non infective causes of gastroenteritis?

Answer 27

Radiation colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, microscopic colitis, chronic ischaemic colitis