Gastroenteritis is more than just a stomach ache. There’s more to it than meets our eyes when we see our baby is trembling. Expect to see these things on your baby:
- diarrhoea means runny, watery poo
- children need to drink plenty of fluids if they have gastro
- give small amounts of fluid often
- gastro can cause dehydration, especially in babies and young children
- watch for signs of dehydration (such as dry lips, fewer wet nappies, sunken eyes, unusual sleepiness) and take your child to see a doctor urgently if you suspect it
Be very observant on how mild or severe her symptoms can get.
Gastroenteritis is actually called as “Stomach Flu” -- makes sense when we say that it’s more than just a stomach ache, right?, is an inflammation of the lining of the digestive tract. There are a lot of viruses to be blamed why your baby gets this. Let’s name them: rotavirus, adenovirus, calicivirus, and astrovirus.
Just a heads up: the following information is going to be medically inclined as this is something we really have to take seriously:
- Rotavirus is the most common cause of diarrhoeal disease among infants and young children. It is a genus of double-stranded RNA viruses in the family Reoviridae.
- Adenoviruses are medium-sized, nonenveloped viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double stranded DNA genome.
- Calicivirus is a family of viruses, members of Class IV of the Baltimore scheme. They are positive-sense, single stranded RNA which is non-segmented.
- Astrovirus is a type of virus that was first discovered in 1975 using electron microscopes following an outbreak of diarrhoea in humans.
But gastroenteritis can also be caused by a potentially more serious bacterial infection, such as Salmonella, Shigella, Staphylococcus, Campylobacter, or E. coli. Still other cases are caused by parasites such as giardia.
- Salmonella is a bacterium that occurs mainly in the intestine, especially a serotype causing food poisoning food poisoning caused by infection with salmonella bacterium.
- Shigella is a genus of Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria closely related to Salmonella.
- Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria. Under the microscope, they appear round, and form in grape-like clusters.
- Campylobacter is a genus of Gram-negative bacteria. Campylobacter typically appear comma or s-shaped and motile.
- E. Coli or Escherichia coli is a Gram negative gammaproteobacteria commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms.
Gastroenteritis is very contagious. From eating or drinking something contaminated, sharing utensils with someone who has any of those virus, to putting her hands on her mouth even if they don’t look dirty, your baby is surely at risk! Remember that it’s possible to have the virus without showing symptoms. And even if things look clean, they may be covered with germs and bacteria, still.
So as soon as you see any signs of gastroenteritis on your baby, give your pediatrician a call right there and then. Do not wait till you find a blood on her stool.
