10 Stomach Flu Symptoms
Symptom #10: Bloody stools
Acute gastroenteritis can be also caused by bacteria or parasitic infections. Some of these pathogens commonly produce inflammatory diarrhea, which usually suggests that they have an invasive mechanism of infection. Some of them can invade the intestinal mucosa and produce high fever and diarrhea associated with the presence of blood or mucous. Some invasive bacteria are salmonella, shigella or campylobacter. Infections caused by parasites (i.e. Entamoeba histolytica can cause amebiasis) or intestinal viruses (cytomegalovirus or adenovirus) can also cause this symptom.
On the other hand, a patient can suspect a viral cause of acute gastroenteritis when there is low-grade fever (or none), vomiting is prominent, in the presence of frequent watery stools, and when there is a short duration of the symptoms (less than 14 days). Most importantly, if you have severe symptoms that include bloody stools, seek medical attention for adequate antimicrobial therapy.
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