Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0000729 (abdominal cramps)
 531 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A high incidence of diarrhea was reported in a group of approximately 1,400 Americans who traveled to the Portuguese island of Madeira in October 1976. A mail questionnaire survey revealed that 39% of the responding 859 travelers experienced diarrhea; in 42% of these diarrhea lasted for longer than 1 week. The most frequent accompanying symptoms were abdominal cramps (75%), abdominal distention (72%), nausea (70%), and weight loss (40%). Of all travelers surveyed, 33% developed an illness resembling giardiasis with a median incubation period of 4 days. Of 35 ill patients who had a stool culture, enteric pathogens were recovered from 4 (3 Shigella and 1 Salmonella). On the other hand, of 58 ill patients whose stools were examined for parasites, Giardia lamblia was recovered from 27 (47%). Analysis of the epidemiologic data showed that drinking tap-water on the island was significantly associated with illness; eating ice cream or raw vegetables on the island was also implicated. There was no evidence of continuing transmission of giardiasis in American tourists visiting Madeira 8--12 months after the outbreak.
 ...
PMID:Giardiasis in American travelers to Madeira Island, Portugal. 72 17

Over a six-week period a 60-year-old patient had several unexplained intoxication-like episodes. He finally had severe abdominal cramps with changes in the level of consciousness and oligoanuric renal failure (creatinine 4.7 mg/dl). The history, marked metabolic acidosis (pH 7.15, HCO3- 2.2 mmol/l, pCO2 6.6 mmHg) as well as raised anion residue (43 mmol/l) and the presence of oxalates in urine suggested poisoning by ethylene glycol contained in antifreeze liquid. Intensive haemodialysis adequately eliminated ethylene glycol and its toxic metabolites (glycol aldehyde, glycolic acid). Renal function returned within 10 days, although the concentrating power of the kidney remained impaired for several weeks because of interstitial nephritis. The intoxication had been caused by a defective heating-pipe system from which the antifreeze had leaked into the hot-water boiler (the patient had habitually prepared hot drinks by using water from the hot-water tap). Gas chromatography demonstrated an ethylene glycol concentration of 21 g per litre of water.
 ...
PMID:[Chronic ethylene glycol poisoning]. 848 40

An outbreak of cryptosporidiosis occurred in Ogose Town, Saitama Prefecture. Japan, in June 1996. Of 12,345 respondents to a questionnaire sent to households in the town (population; 13,809), 8,812 (71.4%) reported an acute gastrointestinal illness some time between May and July. In addition, 274 traceable visitors at local inns, golf courses, and the like during this period and 54 employees from out of town were infected. Cases of cryptosporidiosis were estimated to 9,140. Of these, 2,856 subjects were treated at outpatient clinics and 24 subjects were hospitalized (some subjects counted twice). No deaths were attributed to the outbreak. Among the visitors to Ogose who were traced, 7 persons who stayed only one day during the outbreak and drank half a glass to 2 glasses (100 to 360 ml) of tap water had cryptosporidiosis confirmed by laboratory tests. The median incubation period for the 14 persons for whom this calculation was possible was 6.4 days (range, 5 to 8 days). Of 469 pupils reporting details of their fever and diarrhea, abdominal cramps, or these combined signs and symptoms, the median maximum body temperature was 37.8 degrees C (range, 36.7 to 40.3 degrees C). The duration of illness, reported by 608 of the pupils, was 5.2 days (range, 1 to 15 days), and that reported by 187 employees was 4.8 days (range, 1 to 18 days). The longest known time for discharge of oocysts after onset was 44 days. Blood was not found in the 609 stool specimens examined. The outbreak was caused by contamination of the town's potable water by Cryptosporidium parvum oocysts. The town's water treatment plant treated river water by coagulation, sedimentation, sand filtration, and chlorination. Contamination arose because of various natural and artificial factors: one was that the monthly precipitation in May was much lower than average, causing the river water level to drop. Another factor was heavy rainfall one night in May that increased water turbidity. The amounts of the coagulant added seemed to be insufficient. There are two inns, three public lavatories, and two small-scale wastewater treatment plants upstream 400 m and 1,200 m of the intake point of the town's water treatment plant. However, there are no farms with livestock in the area. We suggest that the location of the water treatment facilities was inappropriate, and that oocysts had circulated from the potable water to humans to sewage to the river and back to the potable water.
 ...
PMID:Outbreak of cryptosporidiosis after contamination of the public water supply in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, in 1996. 1091 42

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that immunocompromised people avoid exposure to cryptosporidium in outbreak settings by drinking water that is boiled, filtered, or bottled. A parasite, cryptosporidium is spread when persons ingest infected feces of humans or animals, or eat raw or undercooked vegetables contaminated with an egg-like form of the parasite. Symptoms include watery diarrhea, headache, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting and low-grade fever; in immunocompromised patients infection often leads to weight loss, dehydration, and may become life-threatening. Drugs can treat the symptoms, although cryptosporidiosis is not curable and often recurs in severely immunocompromised patients. To prevent becoming infected; HIV-positive people should not drink water from lakes, rivers, and swimming pools; avoid unpasteurized milk or milk products; wash hands after contact with pets or with soil; and follow safe-sex guidelines. The CDC also recommends that in settings with an outbreak of cryptosporidium, individuals boil water for one minute to kill the parasite or use a filter for tap water that is capable of removing particles less than one micron in diameter. A third option is to use bottled water for drinking, although it is difficult to know which is safe since no organization regulates it.
 ...
PMID:CDC provides guidelines on suspect water supplies. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 1136 76

The National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) released a May 2, 1996, report stating that the tap water in the nation's major cities places people with weakened immune systems at risk for contracting cryptosporidium. Cryptosporidium is a potentially life-threatening microscopic parasite. In people with compromised immune systems, the symptoms of diarrhea, headache, abdominal cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever can persist for months and lead to death. Twenty-two of the thirty-one cities surveyed had no testing or notification policies in place to reduce an outbreak of cryptosporidium. NAPWA recommends that people with HIV disease in extremely high-risk cities (Atlanta; Dallas; Minneapolis; Newark, NJ; St. Petersburg, FL; and Washington, DC) refrain from drinking tap water. Another 22 cities were found to be at high risk for an outbreak.
 ...
PMID:NAPWA questions safety of drinking water in major cities. National Association of People with AIDS. 1136 72

Trials have provided conflicting estimates of the risk of gastrointestinal illness attributable to tap water. To estimate this risk in an Iowa community with a well-run water utility with microbiologically challenged source water, the authors of this 2000-2002 study randomly assigned blinded volunteers to use externally identical devices (active device: 227 households with 646 persons; sham device: 229 households with 650 persons) for 6 months (cycle A). Each group then switched to the opposite device for 6 months (cycle B). The active device contained a 1-microm absolute ceramic filter and used ultraviolet light. Episodes of "highly credible gastrointestinal illness," a published measure of diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps, were recorded. Water usage was recorded with personal diaries and an electronic totalizer. The numbers of episodes in cycle A among the active and sham device groups were 707 and 672, respectively; in cycle B, the numbers of episodes were 516 and 476, respectively. In a log-linear generalized estimating equations model using intention-to-treat analysis, the relative rate of highly credible gastrointestinal illness (sham vs. active) for the entire trial was 0.98 (95% confidence interval: 0.86, 1.10). No reduction in gastrointestinal illness was detected after in-home use of a device designed to be highly effective in removing microorganisms from water.
 ...
PMID:A randomized, controlled trial of in-home drinking water intervention to reduce gastrointestinal illness. 1571 83