Stool Examination R/M

The following patients are at risk of developing complications of infective diarrhea if they are very young (infants and toddlers), elderly patients, and patients with a weak immune system.

Diarrhea is a food and water-borne disease. Pathogenic bacteria can enter and infect the digestive tract when someone consumes contaminated food or water. Examples of contaminated sources include raw or under cooked eggs, poultry or beef, unpasteurised milk, and untreated water from lakes, streams, and from contaminated water supplies.

Urinate before collecting the stool. Put on gloves before handling your stool. Pass stool into a dry container. Place the lid over the container, label it with your name and send it to the lab.

The most common symptoms of a pathogenic bacterial infection are prolonged diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, mucus in stool, stomach pain and cramps, and nausea. If diarrhea lasts more than a few days, it may lead to complications such as dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, which can be life-threatening, especially in children and the elderly. Dehydration can also cause symptoms such as dry skin, fatigue, and light-headedness. Severely affected people may need hospitalization for fluid and electrolyte replacement. Complications of untreated infected diarrhea can include hemolytic uremic syndrome. This is a serious complication characterized by the destruction of red blood cells and kidney failure that may occasionally arise from an infection with a toxin-producing strain of the bacteria Escherichia coli. Hemolytic uremic syndrome is most frequently seen in children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

Other than pathogenic bacteria, diarrhea can be caused by a viral infection such as norovirus, a parasitic infection such as giardiasis, food intolerance, medications (directly causing diarrhea or indirectly by decreasing normal flora), bowel disease or bowel dysfunction (e.g., celiac disease, malabsorption, or inflammatory bowel disease). Diarrhea may also be caused or worsened by psychological stress.

Several precautions can be exercised to avoid gastrointestinal infections such as not drinking water or eating food that may be contaminated, following good sanitation practices which includes thorough and frequent hand washing, cooking food that might be contaminated (e.g., as raw meat and eggs) thoroughly, avoiding unpasteurised dairy products, avoiding eating food from street vendors and careful hand washing by all family members in case someone close in contacts has an infection causing diarrhea. The person infected should not prepare food or drinks for others until the infection is resolved.