Concept in Definition ABC

The term dysentery means bloody diarrhea. It is a gastrointestinal disorder of infectious origin that can occur in both children and adults.

People with dysentery have liquid or pasty stools mixed with blood and mucus, they are accompanied from fever, colicky abdominal pain, distention of the abdomen, flatulence, general malaise, weight loss and dehydration

Dysentery occurs from eating contaminated food

Dysentery is caused by the invasion of the intestinal mucosa by invading microorganisms, the most frequent in these cases are Shigella, the Escherichia coli and the Entamoeba histolytica, this last microorganism is the cause of the amoebiasis.

All these microorganisms have in common the fact that they are acquired when water or food contaminated with fecal matter from sick people or animals, this contamination It can occur due to irrigation water, direct contact with fecal matter or when improperly handling food without taking care of hand hygiene.

Once they enter the body, these microorganisms reach the intestine where they begin to multiply and invade its walls, tissue damage is the cause of bleeding. If the infection is not treated in time there is the possibility of an intestinal perforation which will lead to development of a serious complication such as peritonitis that requires in all cases a surgery of the urgency.

Amebiasis is one of the most common causes of dysentery

Amoeba infection is very common in the Caribbean and South American countries, as well as Africa. Amoeba is a parasite unicellular that is present in a large percentage of the population of these regions in the form of cysts that do not cause symptoms. So that the disease occurs, it is necessary for the amoeba to be in another form known as a trophozoite, which is capable of colonizing and invading tissues.

The dysentery produced by amebiasis is indistinguishable from that caused by other microorganisms, so in order to reach the diagnosis stool studies need to be done at microscope as well as stool cultures to identify the causative agent of the symptoms.

Once the amoebae attack the intestine, they are capable of spreading to other tissues, causing abscesses that are known as amoebomas. The main location of these abscesses is the liver, since the venous blood vessels of the intestine join in a system called portal that goes to the liver where nutrients are absorbed from the feeding as well as various substances that enter the body including these parasites, which makes the liver in a sort of filter which makes it vulnerable to the effect of toxins and a great variety of microorganisms.

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