<h2″>About Dysentery
Dysentery is an infectious disease caused by eating food that prepared by someone who’s got the illness. It is also spread through contact with food or water that has been contaminated with fecal matter. Dysentery characterized by inflammation of the intestine, abdominal pain and severe diarrhea with blood and mucus. It can cause serious illness and death in young children. This usually lasts for 3 to 7 days.
Each year, 120 million to 165 million cases of dysentery infection found Worldwide, of which 1 million are fatal. Over 60 percent of these fatalities are children under 5 years old in developing countries.
Types of Dysentery
The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies Trusted Source two main types of dysentery.
Bacillary dysentery, or shigellosis: This type of dysentery caused by the Shigella bacillus. shigellosis spread by Poor hygiene and tainted food. People who lived in Western Europe and the U.S., are mostly affected by this infection.
Amoebic dysentery, or amoebiasis: This type is occur by Entamoeba histolytica (E. histolytica), an amoeba. If you travel to a tropical areas of poor sanitation, you might get affected by this amoebae which contaminate you food and water. They can also stay on people’s hands after using the bathroom. Although, It is more common in the tropics, but it sometimes occurs in People of rural Canada.
Causes Of Dysentery
Shigellosis and amebic dysentery typically result from poor sanitation. This refers to environments where people who don’t have dysentery come into contact with fecal matter from people who do have dysentery.
This contact may be through:
- Contaminated food
- Poor hand washing by infected people
- Contaminated water and other drinks
- Swimming in contaminated water, such as lakes or pools
- Physical contact
Symptoms Of Dysentery
Symptoms usually show up 1 to 3 days after you get infected. In some people, the symptoms take longer to appear. The main symptom of dysentery is frequent near- liquid diarrhea flecked with blood, mucus, or pus. Other symptoms include:
- Sudden onset of high fever and chills
- Fever
- Abdominal pain
- Cramps and bloating
- Flatulence (passing gas)
- Urgency to pass stool
- Loss of appetite
- Feeling of incomplete emptying
- Weight loss
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Fatigue
- Vomiting
- Dehydration
Complications Of Dysentery
In some cases, dysentery can lead to complications. These include:
- Postinfectious arthritis: 2 Percent of people develop this. Joint pain, eye irritation, and painful urination are the main symptoms of this.
- Dehydration: Frequent diarrhea and vomiting can quickly lead to dehydration.In infants and young children, this can quickly become life-threatening.
- Liver abscess: If amoebae spread to the liver, an abscess can form there.
- Seizures: Sometimes patients or young children have also experienced seizures after infection.
- Hemolytic uremic syndrome: Shigella dysenteriae can cause the red blood cells to block the entrance to the kidneys, leading to anemia, low platelet count, and kidney failure.
Prevention of Dysentery
Dysentery can be prevented through good practices, such as:
- Drink and brush your teeth with bottled or canned water only, not tap water.
- Frequent hand washing
- Not swallowing water when swimming
- Being careful when changing a sick baby’s diaper
- Order your drinks without ice.
- Only eat raw fruits and vegetables that have a peel.
- Don’t eat food from street vendors.
- Stop intake of unpasteurized milk, cheese, or dairy products