Colitis (cont.)
Infectious colitis
Many bacteria normally reside in the colon; they live in harmony with the
body and cause no symptoms. However, if disease-causing bacteria are ingested
with bacteria-contaminated foods, these bacteria may infect the small intestine
and/or colon. Common infecting bacteria include:
These infections, with the exception of Campylobacter infection,
often cause bloody diarrhea and can lead to dehydration from the loss of fluids
in the diarrheal stools. Similar symptoms can be seen with viral and parasitic
infections, though common viral infections of the gastrointestinal tract more
often involve infection of the small intestine rather than the colon.
Sometimes colitis may occur after antibiotics have been
prescribed for an infection elsewhere in the body. The antibiotic suppresses
some of the normal bacteria within the colon and allows an overgrowth of another
type of bacteria, some of which can lead to colitis. Most commonly the bacterium
that overgrows is a bacterium called,
Clostridium difficile (C. difficile,
C. diff). This
bacteria produces toxins that cause diarrhea, usually non-bloody, associated
with a fever and is
called C. difficile colitis or pseudomembranous colitis (because of the
membrane-like clumps of pus that form on the inner lining of the colon).
Next: Ischemic colitis »
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