Gastroenteritis involves diarrhea or vomitting, with noninflammatory infection of the upper small bowel, or inflammatory infection of the colon, both part of the gastrointestinal tract.

Usually this is caused by an infection, but this is not always the case.

It usually is of acute onset, normally lasting less than 10 days and self-limiting.

Sometimes it is referred to simply as 'gastro'.

It is often called the stomach flu or gastric flu even though it is not related to influenza.

For more information about the topic Gastroenteritis, read the full article at Wikipedia.org, or see the following related articles:

Diarrhea — Diarrhea (American English) or diarrhoea (Commonwealth English) is a condition in which the sufferer has frequent and watery, chunky, or loose bowel ...  > read more

Upper respiratory tract infection — Upper respiratory infections, commonly referred to the acronym URI, is the illness caused by an acute infection which involves the upper respiratory ...  > read more

Giardiasis — Giardiasis (also known as beaver fever) is a disease caused by the flagellate protozoan Giardia lamblia (also Giardia intestinalis). The giardia ...  > read more

Rotavirus — Rotaviruses are a genus of viruses belonging to the Reoviridae family. Seven major groups have been identified, three of which (groups A, B, and C) ...  > read more

Editor's Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Recommend this page on Facebook, Twitter,
and Google +1:

Other bookmarking and sharing tools:

Related Stories

Drug Reduces Vomiting, Hospital Admissions In Children With Gastroenteritis, Study Finds (September 3, 2008) — Researchers have demonstrated that a drug called ondansetron helps reduce vomiting, the need for intravenous fluids and hospital admissions in children with acute ...  > read more

Common Stomach Bacteria May Fight Off Inflammatory Bowel Disease Caused by Salmonella (November 1, 2010) — Helicobacter pylori, a common stomach bacterium, reduced the severity of inflammation of the colon caused by Salmonella in mice, according to new ...  > read more

How Peppermint Helps to Relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome (April 20, 2011) — Researchers in Australia have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve irritable bowel syndrome, which affects up to 20 percent of the population. In a new paper, they explain how ...  > read more

Patients Undergoing Weight Loss Surgery Have High Rates Of Bacterial Infection Associated With Gastrointestinal Disease (October 19, 2004) — The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori (a type of bacteria associated with gastrointestinal disorders) is high among patients about to undergo weight loss surgery, and treatment to eradicate the ...  > read more

Swine Flu: What Does It Do To Pigs? (May 12, 2009) — The effects of H1N1 swine flu have been investigated in a group of piglets. Scientists studied the pathology of the virus, finding that all infected animals showed flu-like symptoms between one and ...  > read more

Search ScienceDaily

Flu Fighter