Gastroenteritis

On this page

Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Prevention and Risk Factors
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

• No links available

Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Have you ever had the "stomach flu?" What you probably had was gastroenteritis - not a type of flu at all. Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the lining of the intestines caused by a virus, bacteria or parasites. Viral gastroenteritis is the second most common illness in the U.S. The cause is often a norovirus infection. It spreads through contaminated food or water, and contact with an infected person. The best prevention is frequent hand washing.

Symptoms of gastroenteritis include diarrhea, abdominal pain, vomiting, headache, fever and chills. Most people recover with no treatment.

The most common problem with gastroenteritis is dehydration. This happens if you do not drink enough fluids to replace what you lose through vomiting and diarrhea. Dehydration is most common in babies, young children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Start Here

• Viral Gastroenteritis (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
• Viral Gastroenteritis (Stomach Flu) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)

Diagnosis and Tests

• Bacteria Culture Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Stool Culture (American Association for Clinical Chemistry)
• Stool Tests (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Prevention and Risk Factors

• Hand Washing: Do's and Dont's (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Gastroenteritis: First Aid (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Stomach Flu: How Long Am I Contagious? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Adenoviruses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Foodborne Germs and Illnesses (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Gastroenteritis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Norovirus (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: The correlation between family food handling behaviors and foodborne acute...
• Article: Multicenter Trial of a Combination Probiotic for Children with Gastroenteritis.
• Article: Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG versus Placebo for Acute Gastroenteritis in Children.
• Gastroenteritis -- see more articles
• Gastroenteritis in adults -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

Children

• "Stomach Flu" (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation)
• Adenovirus (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Diarrhea (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Vomiting (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Dehydration (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Gastrointestinal Infections and Diarrhea (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Bacterial gastroenteritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Bland diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• CMV - gastroenteritis/colitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Stool Gram stain (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Viral gastroenteritis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• When you have nausea and vomiting (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• When you or your child has diarrhea (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish