How long to rehydrate for acute gastroenteritis

Written by Zhu Dan Hua
Gastroenterology
Updated on January 28, 2025
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Acute gastroenteritis is relatively common in clinical settings. Generally, if patients receive fluid therapy, it may be appropriate for about five to seven days. For treating acute gastroenteritis with fluid therapy, symptomatic treatment is typically chosen, including drugs that protect the intestinal mucosa, stop diarrhea, and regulate the intestinal flora. Of course, if the patient develops a fever, a small dose of anti-infection treatment may be appropriately added, but the treatment course should not be too long, generally three to five days would be suitable. Of course, we generally consider acute gastroenteritis to be a self-limiting disease. Patients can exhibit symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, typically frequent watery stools, but without bloody stools. Therefore, treatment is mainly symptomatic, so patients should not worry too much. (Use of medications should be under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Jiang Guo Ming
Gastroenterology
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Symptoms and Treatment of Acute Gastroenteritis

Acute gastroenteritis is usually caused by exposure to cold or improper diet, also known as gastroenteric cold or bacterial enteritis, with common symptoms including abdominal pain and diarrhea. The abdominal pain caused by gastroenteric cold is usually not very severe, and diarrhea is mainly watery. It often accompanies symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, such as fever, chills, sore throat, and general body aches. Treatment mainly focuses on antiviral medications, combined with astringent hemostatic drugs, and a light diet is recommended. Bacterial enteritis caused by improper diet often leads to severe abdominal pain, and stools can be watery or mucous, and may even include pus and blood. The treatment for this condition primarily involves antibacterial therapy, such as cephalosporins or quinolones, and it is also important to maintain a light diet. (The use of medications should be under the guidance of a doctor.)

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Written by Yang Chun Guang
Gastroenterology
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Is gastroenteritis contagious?

There are many causes of gastroenteritis, and whether it can be contagious depends mainly on the pathogen involved. For example, if gastroenteritis is caused by an infection with bacterial dysentery leading to gastrointestinal symptoms, this situation can be spread via the digestive tract and is contagious. However, if the gastroenteritis symptoms arise from exposure to air conditioning and getting a chill, this situation is not contagious. Therefore, patients with gastroenteritis must undergo routine blood and stool tests to identify the cause of the infection.

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Written by Ren Zheng Xin
Gastroenterology
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Causes of Acute Gastroenteritis

Acute gastroenteritis mostly occurs in summer and autumn, due to unhygienic eating habits and consumption of spoiled food. Additionally, a weak immune system or excessive fatigue can gradually lead to acute gastroenteritis. Therefore, it is important to prevent acute gastroenteritis by adopting a healthy lifestyle. This includes having meals regularly and in proper amounts, avoiding spoiled food, drinking plenty of water (preferably boiled water), ensuring the water is thoroughly boiled, maintaining a reasonable work-rest schedule, avoiding excessive fatigue, and eating less greasy and spicy food.

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Written by Ren Zheng Xin
Gastroenterology
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Acute gastroenteritis causes and symptoms

Acute gastroenteritis is common in summer and autumn, often caused by consuming unclean food. Consuming chilled watermelon or cola straight from the refrigerator can also trigger acute gastroenteritis. The primary symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Frequent diarrhea can lead to signs of dehydration in the body, such as sunken eyeballs and pale lips. For acute gastroenteritis, immediate fluid replacement therapy should be administered, and antibiotics should be used to control the infection along with medications to stop diarrhea and firm up the stools. (Please take medication under the guidance of a doctor)

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Written by Zhang Peng
General Surgery
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What foods are good for acute gastroenteritis?

For patients with acute gastroenteritis, it is mainly important to prevent very strong irritation to the entire mucosa of the digestive tract, otherwise symptoms such as abdominal pain and diarrhea may occur. For patients with acute gastroenteritis, in terms of diet, it is mainly important not to consume spicy and stimulating foods, to eat easily digestible foods as much as possible, and not to eat too much coarse dietary fiber, as this may be beneficial for alleviating the disease.