How long does it take for gastroenteritis to get better?

Written by Zhai Guo Dong
Gastroenterology
Updated on September 03, 2024
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If it is acute gastroenteritis, make sure to rest in bed as much as possible, replenish with glucose electrolyte solutions, and handle symptoms accordingly. Recovery often occurs within three to seven days. If it is chronic gastroenteritis, specific analysis based on the particular conditions is required. Chronic gastritis and enteritis often cannot be completely cured, only partially alleviated in terms of symptoms.

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Written by Li Ying
Gastroenterology
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How to thoroughly treat acute gastroenteritis?

The main treatment methods for acute gastroenteritis are as follows. Firstly, the patient should rest in bed. If the patient has persistent vomiting, or shows signs of dehydration caused by vomiting, it is necessary to promptly rehydrate the patient. Regarding the diet, it is advisable for the patient to consume liquid or semi-liquid foods, such as porridge and rice soup, to prevent dehydration. Secondly, it is crucial to treat the symptoms. If the patient has uncontrollable vomiting, we can administer antiemetic medications to alleviate this symptom. Thirdly, in the case of antimicrobial treatment, common gastroenteritis may involve bacterial infections, which require antibiotics for targeted treatment of infectious diarrhea. However, it is important to avoid overuse or misuse of these antimicrobial drugs. Furthermore, attention must be paid to dietary habits. It is essential to wash hands before meals and after using the toilet, and to properly disinfect raw vegetables, fruits, and meats, which should be thoroughly cooked before consumption, to effectively prevent the occurrence of gastroenteritis.

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Gastroenterology
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Is it normal to have a fever with gastroenteritis?

If it is acute gastroenteritis, its onset is sudden and the course of the disease is short. The main symptoms are abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and fever. The primary cause is due to unhygienic food consumption leading to bacterial infection in the gastrointestinal tract causing inflammation. It is a disease caused by bacterial infection. Fever is one of its most common symptoms. Thus, acute gastroenteritis does cause fever. The treatment primarily involves anti-inflammatory measures, rehydration, and symptomatic treatment. Generally, after two to three days of treatment, the disease will heal. After recovery, it is essential to pay attention to food hygiene, avoid eating overnight leftovers and spoiled food as they can easily trigger acute gastroenteritis.

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Written by Jiang Guo Ming
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Acute gastroenteritis treatment

The treatment of acute gastroenteritis should be based on the specific cause. For those cases caused by exposure to the cold or other reasons leading to gastrointestinal flu, the main treatment is antiviral and antidiarrheal. For infectious diarrhea caused by improper diet and other reasons, the treatment generally focuses on antibacterial and antidiarrheal measures. Generally, patients with mild acute gastroenteritis can still eat on their own, and other symptoms are not very severe, so they can be treated by taking oral medications. In more severe cases, such as significant vomiting and diarrhea, where the patient cannot eat, intravenous therapy may be necessary. In cases with severe symptoms such as dehydration, dry mouth, reduced urine output, and poor skin elasticity, hospitalization may be required.

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Written by Jiang Guo Ming
Gastroenterology
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acute gastroenteritis symptoms

The symptoms of acute gastroenteritis can vary depending on the cause. Both gastroenteritis and infectious diarrhea exhibit symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. However, there are distinctions; the abdominal pain in gastroenteritis is often less severe than in infectious diarrhea, and the stools in gastroenteritis are typically watery. In infectious diarrhea, the stools can also be watery, but more often they are mucoid or even contain mucus and blood. Additionally, the stool volume in infectious diarrhea is usually not large and is accompanied by symptoms of tenesmus. Gastroenteritis often also involves symptoms of upper respiratory infection, including fever, chills, dizziness, headache, fatigue, general body ache, and sore throat. Differentiating between the two can be achieved through examinations and tests like stool routine, blood routine, and C-reactive protein levels.

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Acute gastroenteritis pain level

The level of pain in acute gastroenteritis is generally divided into ten levels clinically: levels one to three are mild, four to six are moderate, and seven to ten are severe. This classification is mainly based on the patient's expression and self-perceived intensity of pain. In cases of acute gastroenteritis, there is often the possibility of experiencing spasms, or pain stimuli might trigger inflammatory infections. Generally, the pain is often above level eight. However, if there is mild pain, or it does not accompany fever, it is usually around level one to three. Therefore, once a patient experiences abdominal pain, an intramuscular injection of scopolamine butylbromide can be used to relieve the pain and help the patient stabilize.