Gastroenteritis In Adults

Prevention

To help prevent gastroenteritis, you can:

• Wash your hands frequently, especially after using the toilet, changing diapers or caring for someone who has diarrhea.

• Wash your hands before and after preparing food, especially after handling raw meat.

• Wash diarrhea-soiled clothing in detergent and chlorine bleach. If bathroom surfaces are contaminated with stool, wipe them with a chlorine-based household cleaner.

• Cook all meat thoroughly before you eat it, and refrigerate leftovers within two hours.

• Make sure you don't transfer cooked foods onto unwashed plates that held raw meat.

• Wash kitchen countertops and utensils thoroughly after they have been used to prepare meat.

• Never drink unpasteurized milk or untreated water.

• Drink only bottled water or soft drinks if you travel to an area where sanitation is poor. In these areas, also avoid ice, uncooked vegetables or fruit that you have not peeled yourself.

Treatment

In otherwise healthy adults, most cases of mild gastroenteritis go away within a few days. You can try the following suggestions until your symptoms subside:

• To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of fluids - water, soft drinks, sports drinks, broth or over-the-counter, oral rehydration fluids. If you are too nauseated to drink several ounces at once, try taking many smaller sips over a longer period.

• Once your nausea starts to subside, gradually resume a normal diet. Begin with clear soups, broth or sweetened gelatin desserts, then build up to rice, rice cereal and more substantial foods. Temporarily avoid milk products and foods that contain wheat flour (bread, macaroni, pizza), since your digestive tract may be unusually sensitive to them for a few days. Also temporarily avoid high-fiber foods, such as fruits, corn and bran.

• Use over-the-counter antidiarrhea medicines cautiously.

• Rest in bed.

If you have symptoms of severe gastroenteritis, your doctor may prescribe medications to ease your nausea, vomiting and diarrhea; intravenous fluids for symptoms of severe dehydration; and antibiotics if stool tests confirm that a serious bacterial infection is causing your gastroenteritis.