What Is Viral Gastroenteritis?

Viral gastroenteritis, also known as viral diarrhea, is a group of acute intestinal infectious diseases caused by a variety of viruses. Clinical features include acute onset, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, drainage or loose stools, fever and general malaise, short course of disease, and low mortality. The clinical manifestations of gastroenteritis caused by various viruses are basically similar. There are many types of viruses associated with acute gastroenteritis, of which the more important and more researched are rotaviruses.

Basic Information

nickname

Viral diarrhea

English name

viral gastroenteritis

Visiting department

Gastroenterology, Infectious Diseases

Multiple groups

Infants

Common locations

Digestive tract

Common causes

Virus infection

Common symptoms

Urgent onset, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, drainage, loose stools, fever, etc.

Contagious

Have

way for spreading

Digestive tract transmission

Causes of viral gastroenteritis

Pathogens are mainly transmitted through the digestive tract, which mainly occur in infants and young children, and are often caused by group A rotavirus. The peak of the disease is in autumn, so the baby is called autumn diarrhea. Group B rotavirus can cause diarrhea in adults.

Clinical manifestations of viral gastroenteritis

Common rotavirus gastroenteritis

The incubation period is 1 to 3 days. The conditions are quite different. Children 6 to 24 months of age have severe symptoms, while older children or adults are mostly mild or subclinical infections. Urgent onset, mostly vomiting and diarrhea, with mild to moderate fever. Diarrhea ranges from ten to dozens of times a day. Most of the stools are watery or yellowish green and loose stools, often accompanied by mild or moderate dehydration and metabolic poisoning. In some cases, symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection often precede symptoms of digestive tract. The disease is a self-limiting disease with a course of about 1 week. However, a small number of children still have malabsorption of disaccharides, especially lactose in the short term, and diarrhea can last for several weeks, and up to several months in some cases.

2. Adult diarrhea rotavirus gastroenteritis

The incubation period is 2 to 3 days. The onset is acute, mostly without fever or low fever, and the main symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal pain and bloating. Diarrhea ranges from 3 to 10 times a day, and it is yellow water or rice soup-like stools without pus and blood. Some cases are accompanied by nausea and vomiting. The course of the disease is 3 to 6 days, and can even be more than 10 days.

Viral gastroenteritis treatment

There is no specific treatment for this disease. The treatment is mainly diet therapy, correction of water and electrolyte disorders and acid-base balance, and symptomatic treatment.