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Is Vomiting Along With Diarrhea And Fatigue Symptoms Of A Viral Or Bacterial Infection?
My 16 month old daughter is suffering from vomitting and loose motions since past 4 days. The vomitting is controlled by giving her Ondem syrup 4ml twice a day. For loose motions i have been prescribed to give one vial a day of enterogermina, and if motions exceeds 5 times, 2 vials a day. I was advised to start Diof anitbiotic syrup if motions continue beyond three days without any change, 5ml twice a day. we have accordingly given her DIOF syurp in the morning, but immediately after consuming it she puked it out. The no of times she has passed motions today has increased compared to previous two days when she showed signs of improving. The food/water intake is normal, she is active and playing and does not show signs of fatigue. My question is what determines that her infection is bacterial and not viral, as no tests have been conducted before prescribing the medicine. The only details asked was consistency color and odor, which was watery, green and odorless. Do these details suffice to determine nature of infection as bacterial as opposed to viral? My only concern is not to give an antibiotic without being sure, especially to a child. Kindly advice
Fri, 7 Sep 2018
Hi,
Your infant has gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhoea). Viruses and bacteria can cause gastroenteritis. In either case without good handwashing technique GE is very contagious.
Bacterial gastroenteritis is usually more severe than viral gastroenteritis (GE). Bacterial GE is usually associated with fever and sometimes the diarrheal stool is bloody.
The danger with GE is that the child can become dehydrated, but fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case with your child.
My recommendation is not to give an antibiotic until a stool specimen is obtained to take to lab for culture. Then it will be known if she has a bacterial cause.
If there is a bacterial cause for her GE, the lab will also determine which antibiotics will kill the bacteria. From what you have shared, I believe she will be okay without the antibiotic at this point.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Your infant has gastroenteritis (vomiting and diarrhoea). Viruses and bacteria can cause gastroenteritis. In either case without good handwashing technique GE is very contagious.
Bacterial gastroenteritis is usually more severe than viral gastroenteritis (GE). Bacterial GE is usually associated with fever and sometimes the diarrheal stool is bloody.
The danger with GE is that the child can become dehydrated, but fortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case with your child.
My recommendation is not to give an antibiotic until a stool specimen is obtained to take to lab for culture. Then it will be known if she has a bacterial cause.
If there is a bacterial cause for her GE, the lab will also determine which antibiotics will kill the bacteria. From what you have shared, I believe she will be okay without the antibiotic at this point.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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