The duration
How long the symptoms of diarrhea and fever last depends strongly on the cause. Infectious triggers such as spoiled food and viruses are usually healed after a few days without consequences. Bacterial diarrheal diseases also usually heal within seven to ten days without complications, occasionally the administration of antibiotics is necessary. An appendicitis can also heal with antibiotics and wait-and-see behavior, but this often leads to complications (up to an inflammation of the entire abdomen), so that the usually complication-free appendectomy has the better prognosis and also leads to a healing of the infection after a few days. Chronic inflammatory bowel diseases, on the other hand, are diseases that are often symptomatically well treatable, but are often present in the body for a lifetime and can cause recurring complaints.
The course of the disease
The diarrhea usually starts suddenly, possibly nausea and vomiting occur beforehand, and in the following time fever develops. Over the course of a few days (usually shorter for viral pathogens than for bacterial ones), severe diarrhea occurs, and bowel movements can occur up to ten times a day. After a few days the symptoms improve, so that the disease is usually completely cured after one to two weeks.
How contagious is this?
Diarrhea and fever are in most cases particularly contagious, as they are caused by bacteria or viruses.The pathogens can be transmitted via contaminated water or food. Infection through a smear infection, for example when shaking hands, or infection via contaminated surfaces is also possible. For this reason, strict adherence to hygienic measures is particularly important in the case of infectious diarrhoea.
This includes frequent hand washing and, if necessary, disinfecting the hands. Affected persons are not allowed to visit community facilities (kindergarten, school, nursing homes), in hospital they have to be isolated. In many cases, this can prevent the spread of pathogens.
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