Pharaoh’s Revenge – What Is It And How Is It Treated?

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Travelers’ diarrhea is a common affliction of people who go to warm countries. Dehydration of the body caused by violent diarrhea can be especially dangerous for young children, the elderly, pregnant women and the chronically ill. How to avoid this condition while traveling and what treatment methods should be used?

1. Pharaoh’s revenge is a diarrhea that happens to people who travel to exotic countries
2. Most often, water is responsible for the ailment – you should not drink it, but also rinse fruit or brush your teeth
3. Also, the consumed meals can be a threat to us. Temperature is crucial here
4. More information can be found on the Onet homepage.

Travelers’ diarrhea. The bacteria are to blame for everything

The most common cause of diarrhea is viral infections, and in children mainly rotavirus infections. Diarrhea caused by infection with protozoa or intestinal parasites is rare. However, in the summer, and especially when traveling to warm countries, this disease is often caused by bacteria. Such diarrhea is colloquially called travelers’ diarrhea, or even more dangerous: the pharaoh’s revenge.

You can expose yourself to this type of ailment when traveling to African, Asian, South American and Mediterranean countries, where there are strains of bacteria that can cause infection in our body. Enterotoxic (ETEC) and enteroaggregative (EAEC) strains of Escherichia coli and other bacteria are responsible for most cases of traveler’s diarrhea: Campylobacter, Shigella, Salmonella, Aeromonas i Vibrio (responsible for the occurrence of cholera).

Pharaoh’s Revenge. Be careful what you drink

The main source of bacteria that causes traveler’s diarrhea is water. Even when the hotel staff assures us that the water used to prepare food comes from a reliable source, is filtered and chlorinated, it should not be drunk without boiling it first. It is also risky to brush your teeth, rinse fruit, teats and baby bottles with unboiled water. Eating raw meat and fish can not only cause diarrhea, but also cause parasite infestation. The safest meal that can save us from the pharaoh’s revenge is a dish heated to at least 60 degrees Celsius. Be careful with products sold at bazaars and fairs common in exotic countries.

Fruit and vegetables should be scalded and peeled. It is best to serve small children only cooked dishes, prepared by us or in the form of sealed jars brought from home. Children should not be given raw fruits and vegetables with which they have not been in contact before, not only because of the development of diarrhea, but also at the risk of allergies. Bottled water, which you can buy in stores, is usually considered safe. However, you should not drink previously opened and drunk water and store it in the heat. It is also important to wash your hands before meals and to follow some basic hygiene rules.

Can travelers’ diarrhea be prevented?

To prevent possible diarrhea, you can give your children probiotic preparations containing live bacteria of the genus before the journey Lactobacillus or Bifidobacteriumwhich restore and help maintain the proper composition of the bacterial flora of the digestive tract. Probiotics constituting a natural barrier to the development of unfavorable microflora.

Pharaoh’s Revenge – What are the Symptoms?

If, despite following these rules, you develop diarrhea, it’s worth knowing how to recognize and treat it. Diarrhea is a condition where there is a significant increase in the number of bowel movements that have a liquid or semi-liquid consistency.

Passing formed stool frequently is not diarrhea. According to the definition of the World Health Organization, in children under two years of age and who are artificially fed, diarrhea is diagnosed when a child passes at least three liquid or semi-liquid stools a day. In children who are exclusively breastfed, there may be a few or even a dozen or so stools a day. In these children, we do not recognize diarrhea until the frequency of bowel movements suddenly increases or the nature of stools changes significantly.

Avoid dehydration

Dehydration is the most serious complication of diarrhea, if hydration is not implemented, severe dehydration and metabolic acidosis leading to death may develop in a short time. In well-developed countries, this rarely happens now, unlike in the case of the so-called developing countries with low levels of healthcare, which are often our destinations. Young children, infants and the elderly become dehydrated quickly.

It is important to give your baby more fluid by mouth than usual during diarrhea. A child up to the age of two should receive about 100 ml of fluid after each bowel movement, and an older child about 200 ml of fluid. You should not change the diet, stay at the same meals used in your child before the onset of diarrhea, but give them more often, in smaller portions.

It is worth taking liquids with a special composition with you, which can be purchased at a pharmacy without a prescription – the so-called oral rehydration fluids and give them to your child in case of diarrhea. In addition to liquids with a special composition, you can also use other commonly available drinks, such as water, tea, yoghurt, apple mousse and compote, lightly salted soups.

They should be administered from the moment the diarrhea occurs, so as to prevent dehydration, and the child should not be starved. If the infant is breastfed, breastfeeding should be continued regardless of the method of rehydration. In children who are artificially fed during acute diarrhea, there is no need to use any other types of formula or to dilute them.

When to see a doctor?

Treatment of diarrhea in a child and an adult should be started at home, without medical advice, but when the infant is less than 3 months old, a doctor should be consulted as soon as possible. An obvious symptom of dehydration is scanty urination, dry tongue, increased thirst, sunken eyeballs, crying without tears, fever, irritability, apathy, drowsiness, hoarseness, reluctance to eat and drink. These symptoms should prompt us to consult a doctor who will assess whether the child needs intravenous hydration.

How to Treat Diarrhea

In most cases, acute infectious diarrhea resolves spontaneously and does not require the use of antimicrobial drugs. The administration of antibiotics or chemotherapeutic agents is not recommended as it may lead to the selection of resistant bacterial strains, post antibiotic diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis, as well as in the case of infection Salmonella increases the risk of chronic carriage.

It is not recommended to administer such preparations as: activated charcoal, drugs that inhibit gastrointestinal motility, antisecretory drugs (bismutyl salicylate), because the risk of serious side effects in children is high.

The most important treatment method is adequate hydration, avoiding overheating, and proper nutrition. The probiotic preparations mentioned above can also be helpful in the treatment of diarrhea. Properly selected bacterial strains, when applied early enough, can reduce the duration of diarrhea in a child by an average of 17 to 30 hours.

So, when traveling with young children, it is worth getting the right rehydration and probiotics. Young children especially need a calm atmosphere and comfortable, hygienic conditions while traveling, as the stress associated with changing the environment may additionally expose them to other tropical diseases.

Agnieszka Gonet-Surówka, MD, PhD

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