Symptoms and prevention methods of acute gastroenteritis in summer

What are the symptoms of acute gastroenteritis? How to treat acute gastroenteritis? The weather is hot in summer, food is easy to rot, and people like to eat raw and cold food, which can easily cause bacterial infection. Why is the incidence of acute gastroenteritis higher every summer? What are the common symptoms? How to prevent and treat it? Let's find out together below.

Acute gastroenteritis is an acute inflammation of the gastrointestinal mucosa, with the main clinical manifestations being nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, etc. This disease is common in summer and spring, and is mostly caused by improper diet, overeating, or eating raw, cold, rotten, dirty and unclean food. Traditional Chinese medicine divides gastroenteritis into different types, such as damp-heat, cold-damp, and stagnation, based on the causes and physical constitutions.

There are three obvious symptoms of acute gastroenteritis:

1. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. The onset of vomiting is sudden, often preceded by nausea and followed by vomiting. In severe cases, the patient may vomit bile or blood. Abdominal pain is most common in the upper and middle abdomen, and in severe cases may present as paroxysmal colic. Diarrhea is characterized by watery stools, which occur several to dozens of times a day, accompanied by a foul odor, and are mostly dark yellow or green in color, rarely contain pus and blood, and there is no feeling of urgency and heaviness in the stool.

2. Generally, the systemic symptoms are mild. Severe patients have symptoms such as fever, dehydration, acidosis, shock, and occasionally acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

3. Early or mild cases of enteritis may not show any physical signs. During physical examination, there may be mild tenderness in the upper abdomen or around the umbilicus, and bowel sounds are often significantly hyperactive. Generally, patients with acute enteritis have a short course of illness and can improve and heal themselves within a few days.

How to prevent acute gastroenteritis in summer:

1. Wash your hands before and after meals, try to avoid eating at mobile vendors or restaurants with poor hygiene conditions, and do not eat while walking with food. For families with pets, they should pay attention to the pets' hygiene and warn their children not to feed their pets while they are eating.

2. Summer food should be light, and eat more vegetables and fruits. Don't be greedy for cold drinks and don't eat too much at each meal to avoid damage to gastrointestinal function.

3. For infants and young children, breastfeeding is encouraged, especially in the first summer after birth, which is the most important period. Weaning in summer should be avoided. When adding complementary foods, do not add several complementary foods at the same time. According to climate changes, add or remove clothes in time, pay attention to room ventilation to keep the air fresh, strengthen physical exercise, and pay attention to the combination of work and rest.

In addition, safe use of medication is also critical for acute gastroenteritis. Citizens can usually prepare some Huoxiang Zhengqi water or Huoxiang Zhengqi pills, Zhenglu pills, Changweikang granules, berberine and other medicines at home in case of emergency. When using it, you should pay attention to the following: first, take it early, as soon as symptoms appear; second, if the patient's symptoms are severe, or there is no obvious improvement after taking it, you should seek medical attention in time. Do not abuse antibiotics because they are not suitable for every patient.