Open AccessClinical and therapeutical aspects of antibiotic-associated diarrhea
Author(s) -
Ancuţa Ignat,
Irina Manuela Mucenica,
Andrada Druică,
Oana Tatiana Miron,
Letiţia Doina Duceac,
Felicia Drăgan,
Vasile Valeriu Lupu,
Brânduşa Alina Petre,
Marin Burlea,
Iaşi Spitalul Clinic de Urgenţă pentru Copii „Sf. Maria“,
Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie Oradea,
Universitatea „Al. I. Cuza“ Departamentul Biochimie
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
romanian medical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2069-606X
pISSN - 1220-5478
DOI - 10.37897/rmj.2016.1.5
Subject(s) - diarrhea , medicine , antibiotics , antibiotic associated diarrhea , metronidazole , pseudomembranous colitis , clostridium difficile , penicillin , discontinuation , vancomycin , abdominal pain , clindamycin , gastroenterology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , bacteria , genetics , staphylococcus aureus
Antibiotics are prescribed frequently for common childhood infections and Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea (AAD) appear often in this children. AAD is unexplained diarrhea occurring between 2 hours to 2 months after starting antibiotics, where diarrhea is defined as more than 2 unformed stools for ≥2 days. Children younger than 6 years and type of antibiotics are the two risk factors identified for AAD. The antibiotics with which AAD was associated were: amoxycillin-clavulanate, cephalosporins, macrolides, trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole and penicillin G and V. The most commonly mechanism for AAD is intestinal overgrowth with pathogenic microorganisms, especially Clostridium difficile, following alterations to the normal intestinal flora induced by antibiotics. Symptoms may range from a mild form of liquid diarrhea to a severe form of pseudomembranous colitis with abdominal pain, local, and systemic inflammation and a typical history of diarrhea that is chronologically related with antibiotic administration. Most of the AAD would respond to only discontinuation or change of the antibiotic, but in Clostridium difficile infection oral metronidazole or oral vancomycin are drugs of choice. Probiotics are increasingly used for prevention and treatment of diarrhea associated antibiotics in children.