Patient's question:
Children's diarrhea is caused by several situations, and how to treat them respectively.Doctor's answer:
Hello:1. Duration of the illness
Acute diarrhea is characterized by an abrupt onset and a duration of less than two weeks; prolonged diarrhea lasts between two weeks and two months; chronic diarrhea persists for more than two months.
2. Characteristics of stool
(1) Sudden diarrhea with yellow or yellow-green stool is often an early sign of enteritis or infection.
(2) Watery or egg-soup-like stool, occurring in autumn or early winter, is usually caused by viral infection and is referred to as "autumnal diarrhea" (or viral gastroenteritis).
(3) Dark green, watery stool suggests Staphylococcus aureus enteritis or Salmonella typhimurium infection.
(4) Bright red, bloody watery stool indicates lower gastrointestinal bleeding; black, tarry, watery stool suggests upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
(5) Foamy stool with a strong sour odor may indicate indigestion.
(6) Excessive mucus in the stool is a characteristic of intestinal infection.
(7) A mixture of pus and blood indicates inflammation, possibly dysentery or Campylobacter jejuni enteritis.
(8) Stool resembling rice water requires exclusion of cholera.
(9) Foul-smelling or fishy-smelling stool suggests enteritis caused by pathogenic Escherichia coli.
(10) Acute diarrhea accompanied by fever and abdominal pain is often due to acute intestinal infection (e.g., acute gastroenteritis, dysentery).
(12) Vomiting is also present.