When do I have to go to the doctor?
A doctor should be consulted if the symptoms are long lasting and very severe. Large fluid losses due to vomiting or diarrhoea must be compensated, especially in children and the elderly. If this is no longer possible through food, the doctor can administer an infusion.
A doctor must also be consulted in the case of high fever. In addition, you should introduce yourself to the doctor if you have just been abroad. This is especially important after trips outside of Europe, as the doctor should rule out any notifiable diseases or infection with parasites.
Causes of gastro-enteritis
The causes of gastro-enteritis can be very different and in most cases are due to viruses, bacteria, fungi, toxins or other unicellular organisms (e.g. protozoa). Among the viruses that can cause gastroenteritis, noroviruses are by far the most feared genus and the course of a norovirus infection is often more severe than gastroenteritis caused by other germs. In contrast to all other gastro-enteritis pathogens, the norovirus is also capable of being transmitted via air and is therefore particularly contagious.
When an affected person vomits, tiny virus particles are released into the air, which can then be inhaled by others and thus gain access to the gastrointestinal tract of the next person. A gastro-intestinal flu caused by noroviruses must be reported to the public health department. It is also important to bear in mind that once the symptoms have subsided, those affected can still excrete or carry infectious particles without becoming ill themselves.
These particles are still active and can still infect other people, even if the person formerly affected feels healthy again. Viruses as the cause of gastro-enteritis are predominant in winter, while in summer bacteria are more likely to be the cause. In infants and small children, rotavirus is the most common pathogen causing gastroenteritis.
Almost every child will get acquainted with it at least once during its life. Vaccination against this pathogen has recently become possible. This vaccination is carried out in infancy from the 6th week of life, must be given twice and is recommended for all infants by the STIKO (Standing Vaccination Commission) in Germany.
Bacteria are responsible for gastro-enteritis, especially in the warm season. Like viruses, bacteria often enter the body of the person affected via so-called “smear infections”. Smear infection means transmission through direct skin contact with infected people if they still carry the germ on their hands because they have not cleaned their hands sufficiently.
The germ is then transmitted to other people through physical contact. On their hands, the germ can continue to enter their gastrointestinal tract by mouth contact. The best known and most frequent bacterial causes of gastro-intestinal flu are Clostridia, Yersinia or the salmonellae that have become known through many food scandals.
Salmonella is a large group of bacteria, of which the subspecies Salmonella enterica is almost always responsible for food poisoning. Salmonella is often transmitted to humans via animal products, especially poultry or eggs.They impress by an especially long survival time outside the human body: To kill them reliably, a boiling time of at least 10 minutes above 75°C is necessary. Freezing can do no harm to the bacteria, and they can be detected in dried faeces even after 2.5 years.
Only common disinfectant kills them reliably within a few minutes and should therefore be used generously when ill. An infection with Salmonella must be reported to the public health department in the same way as an infection with Noroviruses. ToxicGift as the cause of a gastrointestinal flu is usually not intentionally absorbed into the body. Rather, most toxins are absorbed as bacterial components through food and then impress as food poisoning.
Clostridia and staphylococci are the most common types of gastroenteritis. Among the non-bacterial toxins, mercury and lead are the most common, which are found in many household items. Single-celled organisms such as amoebae often play a role as amoeba dysentery in travel returnees from tropical countries.
Only a few of the pathogens also occur in Europe, which does not completely exclude amoebic dysentery in Europe. The gastro-intestinal flu is particularly dangerous due to the pathogen Giardia lamblia, since it can also migrate through the intestinal wall into other organs, which can often lead to life-threatening complications. Radiation therapy is often used in combination with chemotherapy and surgery to treat many tumor diseases.
However, radiation therapy, as well as all other forms of cancer treatment, affects not only tumor cells, but all cells that divide rapidly. This is noticeable by hair loss, brittle fingernails or inflammation of the mucous membranes. In the gastrointestinal tract, this inflammation leads to the symptoms of gastroenteritis due to the enormously large mucosal surface area of several hundred square meters.
