Travellers’ Diarrhoea

The passage of at least 3 unformed stools in a 24-hour period with nausea and vomiting, abdominal pain or cramps, faecal urgency, tenesmus, passage of bloody or mucoid stools, in a person who normally resides in an industrialised region and who travels to a developing or semitropical country
Diarrhoea > 1 wk in 10% of patients, and > 1 month in 2%; ±20% of patients are confined to bed for 1–2 days; most diarrhoea in travellers is acquired orally and caused by the heat-stable and heat-labile toxins of E coli and Shigella spp; the intensity of infection depends on water supply quality, and previous host exposure and susceptibility
Management Rehydration, bismuth subsalicylate, narcotic analogs to slow the motility and T-S if antibiotics are required
Prevention Boiling, cooking, peeling