Infectious Diarrhea
Diarrhea by enteric pathogens is a worldwide cause of mortality and morbidity. Nearly 2-4 billion cases of diarrhea happen every year, and more so among infants. Diarrhea is an alteration of ion movement as well as water that goes along an osmotic gradient. Das et al. (2018) state that under normal conditions, the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) can absorb electrolytes and fluid. On a daily basis, 8-9 liters are presented to the large intestine while the amount excreted in the stool is 100-200ml. The net secretion can be altered by enteric pathogens, which lead to diarrhea. In developing countries, bacterial parasites and pathogens are the main causes of infectious diarrhea though it’s also considerably high in the US (Schmidt, 2016). Among the most causes of diarrhea include Salmonella enteritidis; Escherichia coli; Shigella; Campylobacter, Staphylococcus aureus; and Clostridium difficile.
Transmission of Infectious Diarrhea
The diarrhea-causing infectious agents are often spread through the fecal route. They include ingesting food or water that is faecally contaminated, transmission between persons, and direct contact with infected feces. Some of the behaviors that help the spread of enteric pathogens include failure to breastfeed for the first six months exclusively, failure to continue breastfeeding for a minimum of 1 year after weaning a baby, use of infant feeding bottles, storing cooked food at the normal room temperature, and drinking fecally contaminated water (Vecchio et al., 2019). Other causes include failure to wash hands with soap and water before handling food after one defecates or after handling feces; failure to hygienically dispose of feces, including those from infants. It is believed that infant feces are harmless; however, they may contain bacteria and viruses in large amounts.
A number of factors are linked to the increase in incidences as well as duration or severity of diarrhea, including undernutrition, recent or current measles infection, and immunosuppression or immunodeficiency. The duration, severity, frequency, and risk of death from diarrhea increase in undernourished children and children with undernutrition. Dysentery and diarrhea are often more severe or frequent in children with measles or those with a measles attack in the previous four weeks. This happens because of the immunological impairment that is brought by measles. Immunosuppression may be due to a temporary effect for some viral infections such as measles, which may be increased in cases of persons with AIDS. When one has severe immunosuppression, diarrhea can be due to unusual pathogens, which can take a very long time to clear.
Control Measures for Infectious Diarrhea
According to Shan et al. (2017), although there are a number of infectious agents that can cause one to get diarrhea, the transmission pathways are common and involve fecal matter. The fecal-oral transmission can be through contaminated hands, food, and water. Therefore, measures should be taken that look into interrupting the causative agents’ transmission should focus on these pathways. The measures that have shown to be efficacious include feeding a baby breast milk exclusively for the first 4-6 months, avoiding the use of infant feeding bottles, improving the practices that are done when preparing for, and storing weaning foods so as to reduce the growth and contamination of microbes. Additionally, drinking water should be decontaminated using various methods, such as boiling water. Hands should also be cleaned before preparing food and after one has defected or handled feces. Lastly, infant feces and any feces for that matter should be disposed of safely.
References
Das, S., Jayaratne, R., & Barrett, K. E. (2018). The Role Of Ion Transporters In The Pathophysiology Of Infectious Diarrhea. Cellular and molecular gastroenterology and hepatology, 6(1), 33-45.
Schmidt, H. (2016). Chapter 5: Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. In Barrett, D. H., Ortmann, L. W., Dawson, A., Saenz, C., Reis, A., & Bolan, G. (Eds), Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe (pp.137-176). Springer.
Shane, A. L., Mody, R. K., Crump, J. A., Tarr, P. I., Steiner, T. S., Kotloff, K., … & Cantey, J. (2017). Infectious Diseases Society Of America Clinical Practice Guidelines For The Diagnosis And Management Of Infectious Diarrhea. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 65(12), e45-e80.
Vecchio, A. L., Buccigrossi, V., Fedele, M. C., & Guarino, A. (2019). Acute Infectious Diarrhea. In Probiotics and Child Gastrointestinal Health (pp. 109-120). Springer, Cham.
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Question 
Module 4 – Case
INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND CHRONIC DISEASE
Case Assignment
Infectious Diarrhea
Write a paper in which you do the following:
- Select an infectious disease and discuss its transmission and control measures. Try to select a disease not already covered or mentioned in the Syllabus. Be sure to identify the reservoir(s) of your selected infectious disease.
Support your paper with evidence from the literature.
Length: 2–3 pages, excluding title page and references.
Assignment Expectations
Assessment and Grading: Your paper will be assessed based on the performance assessment rubric. You can view it under Assessments at the top of the page. Review it before you begin working on the assignment. Your work should also follow these Assignment Expectations.
Required Reading
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2019, October 23). About Chronic Diseases. https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm#:~:text=Chronic%20diseases%20are%20defined%20broadly,disability%20in%20the%20United%20States
- Mayo Clinic. (2020). Infectious diseases. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/infectious-diseases/home/ovc-20168649
- Henderson, D. A. (2016). The development of surveillance systems. American Journal of Epidemiology, 183(5), 381-386. doi:10.1093/aje/kwv229.
Optional Reading
- Schmidt, H. (2016). Chapter 5: Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. In Barrett, D. H., Ortmann, L. W., Dawson, A., Saenz, C., Reis, A., & Bolan, G. (Eds), Public Health Ethics: Cases Spanning the Globe (pp.137-176). Springer.
Materials Used in This Module
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018). E-learning course – Introduction to prevention effectiveness. Accessed from https://www.cdc.gov/publichealth101/e-learning/prevention-effectiveness/.