Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0017160 (gastroenteritis)
 11,398 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The use of antibiotics in viral diseases of childhood is discussed. If bacterial infection is likely, either as superinfection or as part of the differential diagnosis, then antibiotics should be given. The antibiotic of choice for each illness is considered. Respiratory infections are common. The diagnosis and treatment of streptococcal pharyngitis is compared with viral pharyngitis. Penicillin is indicated if the bacterial infection is possible. If there is difficulty in distinguishing between croup and epiglottitis, then chloramphenicol or ampicillin should be given. Otitis media and pneumonia caused by viruses are difficult to differentiate from their bacterial counterparts, and antibiotics are indicated. By contrast, antibiotics are not used in bronchiolitis or asthma. Antibiotics are contraindicated in gastroenteritis even if caused by bacteria. Prolongation of the carrier state or superinfection may then occur. Interpretation of the biochemical and bacteriological findings of the cerebrospinal fluid is important in distinguishing viral meningitis and encephalitis from bacterial meningitis. If bacterial meningitis is possible, then antibiotics should be used. The indications for antibiotics in viral diseases of the skin, eye, joints, heart and parotid are also discussed.
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PMID:Antibiotics: their true place in the treatment of viral disease. 66 65

The prevalence of hospital-acquired infection was measured in 47 hospitals in 14 countries in four continents. The aim was to establish the evidence that hospital infection is a common and serious problem throughout the world. Using a standard protocol, 28,861 patients were observed by local teams of doctors and nurses in their own hospitals. The prevalence rates in individual hospitals varied from 3% to 21% (median 8.4%). The highest rates were seen on intensive care (13.3%), surgical (13.1%) and orthopaedic wards (11.2%). Children under the age of 1 year (infection prevalence 13.5%) and adults over 64 years (prevalence 12.0%) suffered more infection than others. In children the commonest infections were of the lower respiratory tract, of the skin and gastroenteritis. In the elderly, urinary-tract infections predominated. The prevalence of postoperative wound infection in individual hospitals ranged from 5.2% to 34.4%, with even greater variation when the wounds were analysed as clean, clean-contaminated and contaminated. The micro-organisms isolated from infected patients were similar to previous surveys: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus each caused a sixth of the infections with positive microbiological results. When examined, 30% of patients were on antimicrobial drugs. Penicillin, ampicillin/amoxycillin and gentamicin were the commonest antibiotics used.
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PMID:An international survey of the prevalence of hospital-acquired infection. 289 44

Epidemic gastroenteritis was transmitted to human volunteers by the oral administration of fecal filtrates. The original inocula were obtained from patients in a natural outbreak which occurred at Marcy State Hospital in the winter of 1946-47. The experimental disease closely resembled that of the donors. The incubation period ranged from I to 5 days, with a mean of 3 days. The disease was carried through three generations, in the last two by means of fecal filtrates. Oral administration of unfiltered throat washings from experimental cases of the disease likewise induced gastroenteritis but subjects who inhaled a portion of the same throat washings remained asymptomatic. Volunteers who inhaled throat washings taken from patients in the epidemic at Marcy State Hospital also failed to develop the disease. Five volunteers who had previously been inoculated with fecal filtrates were reinoculated with the same material. Gastroenteritis followed in one of the two subjects who had failed to contract the disease the first time. The others remained well. Embryonated hens' eggs were inoculated with one of the two unfiltered stool suspensions used in the pool which had induced gastroenteritis in each of the three volunteers to whom it was fed. Three sets of eggs were inoculated: one on the chorioallantoic membrane, another into the yolk sac, and a third into the amniotic sac. Three serial passages were carried out by each method at varying time intervals. Penicillin and streptomycin were employed as antibacterial agents. Tissue and extraembryonic fluids from the third passage were non-infective for volunteers.
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PMID:TRANSMISSION OF EPIDEMIC GASTROENTERITIS TO HUMAN VOLUNTEERS BY ORAL ADMINISTRATION OF FECAL FILTRATES. 1987 87