Management of acute infectious diarrhea
QUESTIONS WILL COME UP ABOUT HOW TO MANAGE ACUTE INFECTIOUS DIARRHEA? due to new Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) guidelines. Infectious diarrhea is usually self-limiting and often viral. But when a patient presents with fever, bloody stools, abdominal pain, or sepsis, suggest a stool test to evaluate for a bacterial cause such as E. coli, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, etc. Follow these steps...
Recommend a rapid diagnostic test if these new tests are available at your hospital. Look for terms such as "stool PCR" or "GI PCR panel" in physician's order or check with your lab. Expect to have results in just a few hours with these new tests.
Start empiric antibiotics for most hospitalized patients, especially those with immunodeficiency, recent travel, or in infants under 3 months. In these cases, it's usually okay to start with ciprofloxacin or azithromycin in adults or azithromycin or a third-generation cephalosporin (ceftriaxone, etc) in kids.
Table (1). Antibiotic Therapy for Acute Diarrhea | ||||
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ORGANISM | THERAPY EFFECTIVENESS | PREFERRED MEDICATION | ALTERNATIVE MEDICATIONS | COMMENTS |
Bacterial | ||||
Campylobacter | Proven in dysentery and sepsis, possibly effective in enteritis | Azithromycin (Zithromax), 500 mg once per day for 3 to 5 days | Erythromycin, 500 mg four times per day for 3 to 5 days | Consider prolonged treatment if the patient is immunocompromised |
Ciprofloxacin (Cipro), 500 mg twice per day for 5 to7 days | ||||
Clostridium difficile | Proven | Metronidazole (Flagyl), 500 mg three times per day for 10 days | Vancomycin, 125 mg four times per day for 10 days | If an antimicrobial agent is causing the diarrhea, it should be discontinued if possible |
Enteropathogenic/enteroinvasive Escherichia coli | Possible | Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg twice per day for 3 days | TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 3 days | — |
Enterotoxigenic E. coli | Proven | Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg twice per day for 3 days | TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 3 days | Enterotoxigenic E. coli is the most common cause of traveler's diarrhea |
Azithromycin, 500 mg per day for 3 days | ||||
Salmonella, non-Typhi species | Doubtful in enteritis; proven in severe infection, sepsis, or dysentery | — | Options for severe disease: Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg twice per day for 5 to 7 days | In addition to patients with severe disease, it is appropriate to treat patients younger than 12 months or older than 50 years, and patients with a prosthesis, valvular heart disease, severe atherosclerosis, malignancy, or uremia |
TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 5 to 7 days | ||||
Azithromycin, 500 mg per day for 5 to 7 days | Patients who are immunocompromised should be treated for 14 days | |||
Shiga toxin–producing E. coli | Controversial | No treatment | No treatment | The role of antibiotics is unclear; they are generally avoided because of their association with hemolytic uremic syndrome |
Antimotility agents should be avoided | ||||
Shigella | Proven in dysentery | Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg twice per day for 3 days, or 2-g single dose | Azithromycin, 500 mg twice per day for 3 days | Use of TMP/SMX is limited because of resistance |
TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 5 days | Patients who are immunocompromised should be treated for 7 to 10 days | |||
Ceftriaxone (Rocephin), 2- to 4-g single dose | ||||
Vibrio cholerae | Proven | Doxycycline, 300-mg single dose | Azithromycin, 1-g single dose | Doxycycline and tetracycline are not recommended in children because of possible tooth discoloration |
Tetracycline, 500 mg four times per day for 3 days | ||||
TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 3 days | ||||
Yersinia | Not needed in mild disease or enteritis, proven in severe disease or bacteremia | — | Options for severe disease: | — |
Doxycycline combined with an aminoglycoside | ||||
TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 5 days | ||||
Ciprofloxacin, 500 mg twice per day for 7 to 10 days | ||||
Protozoal | ||||
Cryptosporidium | Possible | Therapy may not be necessary in immunocompetent patients with mild disease or in patients with AIDS who have a CD4 cell count greater than 150 cells per mm3 | Option for severe disease: Nitazoxanide (Alinia), 500 mg twice per day for 3 days (may offer longer treatment for refractory cases in patients with AIDS) | Highly active antiretroviral therapy, which achieves immune reconstitution, is adequate to eradicate intestinal disease in patients with AIDS |
Cyclospora or Isospora | Proven | TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice per day for 7 to 10 days | — | — |
AIDS or immunosuppression: TMP/SMX DS, 160/800 mg twice to four times per day for 10 to 14 days, then three times weekly for maintenance | ||||
Entamoeba histolytica | Proven | Metronidazole, 750 mg three times per day for 5 to 10 days, plus paromomycin, 25 to 35 mg per kg per day in 3 divided doses for 5 to 10 days | Tinidazole (Tindamax), 2 g per day for 3 days, plus paromomycin, 25 to 35 mg per kg per day in 3 divided doses for 5 to 10 days | If the patient has severe disease or extraintestinal infection, including hepatic abscess, serology will be positive |
Giardia | Proven | Metronidazole, 250 to 750 mg three times per day for 7 to 10 days | Tinidazole, 2-g single dose | Relapses may occur |
Microsporida | Proven | Albendazole (Albenza), 400 mg twice per day for 3 weeks | — | Highly active antiretroviral therapy, which achieves immune reconstitution, is adequate to eradicate intestinal disease in patients with AIDS |
DS = double strength; TMP/SMX = trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Information from reference, Am Fam Physician. 2014 Feb 1;89(3):180-189. |
Generally avoid using antibiotics if you suspect toxin-producing E. coli in patients with bloody diarrhea withOUT a fever. Antibiotics are linked to a higher risk of hemolytic uremic syndrome in this case. And don't give loperamide (Imodium) or other antimotility agents to patients with a fever or bloody stools or suspected C. difficle due to concerns of prolonging the infection or toxic megacolon.
Be aware that probiotics, such as Lactobacillus (Lacteol Forte) or Saccharomyces boulardii, may shorten the duration of diarrhea by about a day. But AVOID them in immunocompromised patients due to reported cases of bacteremia and fungemia. Keep in mind to use contact precautions; gloves, gowns, and proper hand hygiene. Choose soap and water over alcohol-based rubs for suspected Cryptosporidium, Norovirus, or spore-formers such as C. difficle.
REFERENCES
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Shane AL, Mody RK, Crump JA, Tarr PI, Steiner TS, Kotloff K, Langley JM, Wanke C, Warren CA, Cheng AC, Cantey J, Pickering LK. 2017 Infectious Diseases Society of America Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Infectious Diarrhea. Clin Infect Dis. 2017 Nov 29;65(12):e45-e80. Available at: https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/65/12/e45/4557073
Riddle MS, DuPont HL, Connor BA. ACG Clinical Guideline: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Prevention of Acute Diarrheal Infections in Adults. Am J Gastroenterol. 2016 May;111(5):602-22. Available at: https://journals.lww.com/ajg/Fulltext/2016/05000/ACG_Clinical_Guideline__Diagnosis,_Treatment,_and.14.aspx
Switaj TL, Winter KJ, Christensen SR. Diagnosis and Management of Foodborne Illness. Am Fam Physician. 2015 Sep 1;92(5):358-65. PMID: 26371569. Available at: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2015/0901/p358.html
DuPont HL. Acute infectious diarrhea in immunocompetent adults. N Engl J Med. 2014 Apr 17;370(16):1532-40. Available at: https://www.nejm.org/doi/10.1056/NEJMra1301069?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed