-         infectious inflammation can be caused by pathogens, opportunistic microorganisms and dysmicrobia, or disruption of the homeostasis of the microbial system of the digestive tract

-         an opportunistic infection is an infection controlled under physiological conditions by a group of bacteria within the micro-ecosystem of the digestive tract. Its non-pathogenic amount does not exceed 0.001 per mille of the intestinal flora (streptococcus faecalis, staphylococcus aureus, clebsiella, enterobacter, pseudomonas aeruginosa, candidae)

-         intestinal infections present as acute gastroenteritis or enterocolitis. The most common causative agents in the Czech Republic are campylobacter and salmonella, rotaviruses and noroviruses, and Clostridium difficile is also increasing in importance due to the worldwide spread of the new hypervirulent ribotype 027

Symptoms

-          the typical clinical picture is (hemorrhagic) enterocolitis with fever, abdominal pain, possibly tenesmus and admixture of blood and mucus in the stool. Coronaviruses and some parasites can also cause haemorrhagic colitis. In addition to the usual symptoms, less typical symptoms may occur, e.g. headache, muscle and joint pain, febrile convulsions in febrile children under 5 years of age, encephalopathy with positive meningeal symptoms and negative lumbar puncture. Infections caused by campylobacter and yersiniae may sometimes present as pseudoappendicitis with typical symptoms but without inflammatory changes in the appendix

Treatment

-          rehydration - orally (black tea, unsweetened mineral water, oral rehydration solutions) or intravenously (crystalloids, glucose solutions with ions) including correction of ion imbalance and acid-base balance

-          non-specific therapy: adsorbents (activated charcoal, Smecta), probiotics (Lacidofil, Biopron, Hylak), intestinal disinfection (Endiaron), ATB (indicated in the treatment of typhoid fever, paratyphoid fever, clostridial colitis, severe courses of bacterial diarrhoea usually caused by invasive pathogens and extraintestinal forms of these pathogens, e.g. salmonella or campylobacter sepsis, meningitis, abscesses, etc.)