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February 7, 2012
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Traveler's Diarrhea

Medical Author:
Anthony L Buscaglia, DO
Coauthor:
Ronald M Moscati, MD
Medical Editor:
Scott H Plantz, MD, FAAEM
Medical Editor:
Francisco Talavera, PharmD, PhD
Medical Editor:
James Ungar, MD

Traveler's Diarrhea Overview

Diarrhea occurs in a significant number of people who travel to foreign countries. Travelers to developing countries of the world become ill from eating or drinking food or water contaminated by infected human bowel waste.

Traveler's diarrhea can be defined as 3 or more unformed stools in a 24-hour period.

  • Travelers at risk: Those going from industrialized countries to developing countries. The condition is more common in young adults. About 30-50% of travelers to the high-risk areas will develop diarrhea.
  • High-risk areas

    • Mexico

    • Latin America

    • Africa

    • Middle East

    • Asia
  • Moderate-risk areas

    • Caribbean islands

    • Southern Europe

    • Israel
  • Low-risk areas

    • United States

    • Canada

    • Northern Europe

    • New Zealand

    • Australia

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Traveler's Diarrhea Causes»
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Traveler's Diarrhea

Food Poisoning »

Food Poisoning Overview

Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (called an outbreak).

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, 1 in 6 people becomes sick from eating contaminated food. In 2001, the CDC estimated that food poisoning causes about 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and up to 3,000 deaths each year.
  • Norovirus and salmonella are the most common infectious forms of food-borne illness. Salmonella causes the most deaths followed by Toxoplasma and Listeria.
  • Worldwide, ...

Read the Food Poisoning article »


Read What Your Physician is Reading on Medscape

Escherichia Coli Infections »

Escherichia coli is one of the most frequent causes of many common bacterial infections, including cholecystitis, bacteremia, cholangitis, urinary tract infection (UTI), and traveler's diarrhea, and other clinical infections such as neonatal meningitis and pneumonia.

Read More on Medscape Reference »

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