Therapeutic Nutrition For Intestinal Infections

Acute intestinal infection is a collective concept. This includes intestinal infections caused by viruses, as well as bacterial toxins. Therapeutic nutrition for intestinal infections.

Nutrition for intestinal infections

Acute intestinal infection is a collective concept. This includes intestinal infections caused by viruses (enterovirus, rotavirus infection), bacteria (salmonellosis, dysentery, cholera, E. coli infection), as well as bacterial toxins (staphylococcal intestinal toxic infection - in this case, diarrhea is not caused by the bacteria themselves, which are in the intestine may not be, but their toxins that enter the digestive tract with food in which staphylococcus multiplied).

The causative agents of intestinal infections can be: bacteria (salmonellosis, typhoid fever, cholera), their toxins (botulism), as well as viruses (enterovirus, rotavirus), etc.

From patients and carriers of infection, microbes are excreted into the external environment with feces, vomit, and sometimes with urine. Almost all pathogens of intestinal infections are extremely tenacious. They are ways to exist for a long time in soil, water, and even on various objects. For example, on spoons, plates, door handles and furniture. Gut microbes are not afraid of the cold, but still prefer to live where it is warm and humid. They multiply especially quickly in dairy products, minced meat, jelly, jelly, and also in water (especially in summer).

In the body of a healthy person, intestinal infection pathogens enter through the mouth: along with food, water or through dirty hands. For example, dysentery can begin if you drink fresh (not boiled) milk or eat curdled milk made from it, cottage cheese or sour cream. E. coli can be eaten with low-quality kefir or yogurt. Staphylococcal infection feels comfortable in spoiled cream cakes. The causative agents of salmonellosis (and there are about 400 species of them) get to a person through any contaminated products: chicken meat and eggs, boiled sausage, sausages, vegetables and greens poorly washed or washed with dirty water.

For infections of this group, the following symptoms are characteristic (individually or in combination with each other):

- elevated temperature (the degree of increase and duration vary)

- nausea, vomiting

- abdominal pain

- diarrhea

- excessive gas formation in the intestines (flatulence)

All intestinal infections are dangerous because dehydration occurs due to vomiting or diarrhea, so treatment is aimed not only at destroying the pathogen, but also at replenishing water losses. Moreover, in the case of a mild course of salmonellosis, as well as with staphylococcal toxic infection, antibiotics can also not be used, it is only necessary to replenish the loss of water, the body will cope with the infection itself.

There are some differences between different diseases

With dysentery, diarrhea has the character of a very frequent stool (ten to twenty or more times a day), which is characterized by an abundance of mucus, painful frequent urge to empty the intestines, which do not lead to the desired result. In addition to mucus, blood and pus may be present in the stool. The temperature in many cases is high.

With salmonellosis, diarrhea is often preceded by vomiting, stools are not so frequent, but plentiful. Temperature in mild cases may not be.

Cholera is a rare, very dangerous disease. It is dangerous because a person, due to an indomitable company and diarrhea, loses a lot of fluid, which is deadly. Fortunately, it is not easy to catch cholera at the present time, although isolated cases are observed.

Enterovirus and rotavirus infections are characterized by frequent stools, fever, sometimes there may be a rash on the skin. They are often preceded by a runny nose and other symptoms of a cold (this has been erroneously called "influenza with intestinal manifestations." It has nothing to do with the flu). Their treatment does not require the use of antibiotics.

For intestinal infections, “folk” remedies can also be used: a decoction of pomegranate peels, rice water, oak bark, etc. The action of these substances is to stop diarrhea. They do not replace treatment, but may be an addition to it.

Nutrition in the acute phase of an intestinal infection should be sparing, but at the same time leave the body able to function normally. If the patient refuses to eat in the first days of the disease, it is not necessary to force (drinking is much more important), but it is also not necessary to starve. Nutrition in the acute period:

- do not introduce new foods that the child has never eaten before (especially children under 2 years old);

- make meals frequent and fractional: in small portions, but often, do not force them to eat;

- exclude the following foods: raw vegetables and fruits (you can leave a banana), raw milk, fried, fatty, spicy, sweets movies online. Everything else, including boiled or baked vegetables and fruits, sour-milk products, lean meat, milk porridge or boiled milk - do not exclude!

- after the end of the acute period (diarrhea, vomiting), return to normal nutrition.

Most often, acute intestinal infections are treated at home. Indications for hospitalization in a hospital (infectious diseases hospital):

- severe course with high fever, indomitable vomiting, unstoppable diarrhea;

- the development of dehydration due to the ineffectiveness of the measures taken or the inability (for example, with vomiting) to give medications and fluids.

- the appearance of any neurological symptoms (convulsions, loss of consciousness, delirium);

- there is no opportunity for normal care of a sick child and therapeutic measures (social factor).

Signs of dehydration:

- dry mucous membranes (lips, mouth);

- sharpening of facial features; flabbiness of the skin and a grayish tint of the skin;

- in infants - retraction of the fontanel;

- palpitations, marked lethargy;

- 10% weight loss.

 

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Health food (PREMIUM)

For acute dysentery, damage to the large intestine (colitis), intoxication of the body, and often worsening of the secretion of the stomach and pancreas are characteristic. In severe dysentery, start with a hungry tea day: only strong hot semi-sweet tea, at least 1 liter, in sips. Next, slimy soups (rice, Hercules, semolina), weak fat-free broths, fresh juices of fruits and berries, and a warm rosehip broth are added. Sometimes good results are obtained when prescribing an "apple diet" for 1-2 days: 5 times a day, 200-300 g of carefully grated raw ripe apples of sweet and sour varieties, without peel and core. In the absence of apples in the same quantities, very well grated carrots are used, having previously boiled them slightly. Then, diet No. 4 is prescribed for 3-5 days, and after the elimination of acute events, partial normalization of the stool, diet No. 46, which, with physiological usefulness, provides chemical and mechanical sparing of the gastrointestinal tract. After the normalization of the stool, diet No. 4c is shown, followed by a transfer to diet No. 2. Currently, dysentery occurs more often in mild or moderate form, which allows you to immediately prescribe diet No. 4 or 4b. Transfer to a normal diet should be gradual - after 3-6 months. after dysentery. But a long-term sparing diet, in particular No. 4b, can lead to intestinal lethargy and constipation. Transfer to a normal diet should be gradual - after 3-6 months. after dysentery. But a long-term sparing diet, in particular No. 4b, can lead to intestinal lethargy and constipation. Transfer to a normal diet should be gradual - after 3-6 months. after dysentery. But a long-term sparing diet, in particular No. 4b, can lead to intestinal lethargy and constipation.

In chronic dysentery, the diet should help normalize bowel function and increase the body's defenses to fight chronic infection. Diet No. 4c is recommended with an increased content of animal proteins and the exclusion of foods and dishes that cause severe mechanical or chemical irritation of the intestines, enhance fermentation processes, cause flatulence: vegetables and fruits with coarse fiber, wholemeal bread, muffins, legumes, whole milk, canned food, smoked meats, spices, fatty foods, meat rich in connective tissue, kvass, etc. Recommended diet No. 4c with an increased content of animal proteins and the exclusion of foods and dishes that cause severe mechanical or chemical irritation of the intestine, enhance fermentation processes, cause flatulence: vegetables and fruits with coarse fiber, wholemeal bread, muffins,

With salmonellosis of the gastrointestinal form, i.e. with damage to the gastrointestinal tract, food poisoning caused by various microbes, viral gastroenteritis, diet therapy basically corresponds to that of dysentery. Use diets No. 4, 4b. 4c, and in the first 1-2 days of the acute period, taking into account the severity of lesions of the gastrointestinal tract - tea unloading diets. Although with these diseases, clinical recovery can be rapid, the transition to a normal diet must necessarily be gradual - on average after 2-3 months. Violation of the diet in this period often leads to the resumption (relapse) of disorders of the gastrointestinal tract and the formation of chronic diseases. So, after salmonellosis and rotovirus gastroenteritis, insufficient digestion and absorption capacity of the intestine persists for a long time.

Cholera in typical cases proceeds as acute gastroenteritis or gastroenterocolitis with copious liquid stools, repeated vomiting, a sharp violation of water-salt metabolism, depletion of the body in water and minerals, and intoxication. A special diet for cholera patients is not required. To reduce intoxication and dehydration of the body in the first days of the disease, it is necessary to drink plenty of fluids, especially when hot. After the vomiting stops, kissels, compotes, kefir, fruit and vegetable juices are given. Approximately on the 3-5th day, and sometimes on the 2-4th day, diet No. 4 or 13 is prescribed, and then No. 2 or 15. In case of mild cholera, diet No. 15 is indicated on the 3-5th day of the disease.

To combat dehydration and impaired water-salt metabolism, drinking a glucose-mineral solution is indicated. In 1 liter of drinking water (40°C) dissolve 3.5 g of sodium chloride, 2.5 g of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), 1.5 g of potassium chloride and 20 g of glucose. The solution is first given in 15-20 ml with an interval of 3-5 minutes. Taking into account the degree of dehydration of the body and the patient's body weight, from 0.4 to 1 liter of solution is given in 1 hour. Reception of the solution can be further alternated with meals.

Typhoid fever is characterized by inflammation of the intestines with the possible formation of ulcers and general intoxication of the body. In the usual course of the disease, diet No. 13 is prescribed, in the presence of diarrhea - diet No. 4. In the acute febrile period, the patient should receive 1.5-2 liters of fluid per day, and the food should consist of fruit and vegetable juices, low-fat broth, fruit jelly, jelly, mashed compotes, tea, coffee with milk, sour-milk drinks, cream, mashed cottage cheese, butter, slimy soups, meat, fish and egg soufflés, omelettes, soft-boiled eggs, semi-liquid cereals from rice and semolina, vegetable purees, honey, white bread crackers (50-100 g). Next, diet No. 4b is prescribed until the end of the 4th week of the disease, sometimes longer. From the 5th-6th week, diet No. 4c is used. When typhoid fever is complicated by cholecystitis, instead of diet No. 4c, diet No. 5a or 5 is given.

In typhoid fever, complicated by intestinal bleeding, on the 1st day, only drinking is prescribed: cold tea and rosehip broth - up to 0.6 liters with tablespoons. On the 2-3rd day, liquid and jelly-like food is given: jelly, mousses, oatmeal and milk jelly, soft-boiled eggs, cream, butter in pieces or as part of dishes (diet type No. Oa). Up to 0.8 l of liquid is prescribed per day. On the 3-4th day, soufflé or mashed boiled fish, boiled pureed vegetables and fruits, slimy cereal soups on vegetable broth, steam protein omelet (diet type No. Ob) are added. From the 5th day, they switch to a diet of type No. Ov or 4. In the future, diets No. 4b and 4c are used. In a severe form of the disease, a mechanically and chemically sparing diet No. 4b must be followed for 1-2 months. In the absence of diets No. 4b and 4c in the hospital, diet No. 1 or 2 is used, which is less desirable.

Acute intestinal infections (AII) remain relevant in childhood and currently occupy the second place in the structure of infectious morbidity after acute respiratory infections.

According to US infectious disease specialists, supportive treatment is the most important for AEI. If nausea and vomiting have stopped, then to prevent dehydration or treat it mildly, the patient is given liquids, such as glucose-mineral solutions, strained cereal broth, liquid oatmeal or meat broth with the addition of table salt. Small sips of this kind of liquid are indicated even with vomiting and may sometimes help to stop it. Only if vomiting does not go away or dehydration is severe, intravenous administration of appropriate solutions is necessary. But if the patient tolerates, then, in addition to warm liquids, well-mashed cereals, jelly, meat broth jelly and other light foods are gradually included in the diet.

European gastroenterologists also offered recommendations for the treatment of patients with acute intestinal infections. With regard to diet, the accepted recommendations state that fasting is indicated only when acute diarrhea is combined with severe vomiting. It is considered expedient for patients with acute intestinal infections to prescribe a light diet for 2-3 days with the inclusion of mucous soups, mashed rice porridge, dried white bread, salted crackers (dry biscuits), baked potatoes, eggs.

With moderate AII with mild diarrhea, it is possible to take ordinary drinks - at the request of the patient and tolerance: strong hot sweet or semi-sweet tea (you can add lemon, jam syrup, red wine), rosehip broth, dried blueberries, bird cherry, black currant, green tea, mineral water. Then slimy soups are added (rice, Hercules, semolina), weak meat broth without fat, freshly squeezed juices of fruits and berries, diluted with warm water. Then nutrition for 2-4 days is based on the diet used for exacerbation of chronic colitis with diarrhea.

 

With many acute intestinal infections, clinical recovery can be quick, but the transition to the normal diet of a healthy person must necessarily be gradual - on average, 1-3 weeks after the onset of the disease. Non-compliance with the diet during this period often leads to the resumption of intestinal disorders and the formation of chronic diseases - chronic enteritis or colitis. After dysentery, salmonellosis, rotovirus gastroenteritis and other acute intestinal infections, insufficient digestion and absorption capacity of the intestine persists for a long time. Therefore, heavy meals, the inclusion of indigestible foods, very fatty foods in the diet can provoke upset stools, bloating and other intestinal symptoms.