Certain symptoms may suggest that a person has a different health problem. The symptoms listed below may suggest that an adult or child has a severe case of viral gastroenteritis, dehydration, or a more serious health problem instead of viral gastroenteritis.
Older adults, pregnant women, and adults with a weakened immune system or another health condition should also see a doctor right away if they have any symptoms of viral gastroenteritis. Diarrhea is especially dangerous in newborns and infants, leading to severe dehydration in just a day or two.
A child with symptoms of dehydration can die within a day if left untreated. Many different viruses can cause viral gastroenteritis. The most common causes of viral gastroenteritis include. Norovirus causes infections in people of all ages. Rotavirus, adenovirus, and astrovirus most often infect infants and young children, but they can also infect adults.
Viruses may cause viral gastroenteritis any time of the year. In the United States, norovirus, rotavirus, and astrovirus are more likely to cause infections in the winter.
Flu viruses cause infections of the respiratory system , while viral gastroenteritis is an infection of the intestines. While viruses cause viral gastroenteritis, bacteria , parasites , and chemicals may cause other kinds of gastroenteritis.
When gastroenteritis is caused by consuming foods or drinks contaminated with viruses, bacteria, parasites, or chemicals, this is called food poisoning. If you have viral gastroenteritis, viruses will be present in your stool and vomit. Infected people who do not have symptoms can still spread viruses. For example, norovirus may be found in your stool before you have symptoms and up to 2 weeks after you recover. Norovirus is especially contagious, meaning that it spreads easily from person to person.
Norovirus can live for months on surfaces such as countertops and changing tables. When an infected person vomits, the virus may become airborne and land on surfaces or on another person. Viral gastroenteritis may spread in households, day care centers and schools, nursing homes, cruise ships, restaurants, and other places where people gather in groups. If water comes into contact with stools of infected people, the water may become contaminated with a virus.
The stomach, small intestine and large intestine colon are part of your digestive tract, which processes the foods you eat. Viral gastroenteritis is an inflammation of these organs caused by a virus. Although it's commonly called stomach flu, gastroenteritis isn't the same as influenza. Real flu influenza affects only your respiratory system — your nose, throat and lungs. Gastroenteritis, on the other hand, attacks your intestines, causing signs and symptoms, such as:.
Depending on the cause, viral gastroenteritis symptoms may appear within one to three days after you're infected and can range from mild to severe. Symptoms usually last just a day or two, but occasionally they may persist as long as 10 days.
Because the symptoms are similar, it's easy to confuse viral diarrhea with diarrhea caused by bacteria, such as Clostridium difficile, salmonella and E. If you have an infant, remember that while spitting up may be an everyday occurrence for your baby, vomiting is not. Babies vomit for a variety of reasons, many of which may require medical attention. You're most likely to contract viral gastroenteritis when you eat or drink contaminated food or water, or if you share utensils, towels or food with someone who's infected.
Some shellfish, especially raw or undercooked oysters, also can make you sick. Although contaminated drinking water is a cause of viral diarrhea, in many cases the virus is passed through the fecal-oral route — that is, someone with a virus handles food you eat without washing his or her hands after using the toilet. Each gastrointestinal virus has a season when it's most active. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, for instance, you're more likely to have rotavirus or norovirus infections between October and April.
The main complication of viral gastroenteritis is dehydration — a severe loss of water and essential salts and minerals. If you're healthy and drink enough to replace fluids you lose from vomiting and diarrhea, dehydration shouldn't be a problem. Infants, older adults and people with suppressed immune systems may become severely dehydrated when they lose more fluids than they can replace.
Hospitalization might be needed so that lost fluids can be replaced intravenously. Dehydration can be fatal, but rarely. When you're traveling in other countries, you can become sick from contaminated food or water. You may be able to reduce your risk by following these tips:. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products. Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission.
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