Treatment of traveler's diarrhea - clinical review

Abstract

Travelers’ diarrhea is defined as the passage of three or more unformed stools per 24 hours plus at least one additional symptom such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, fever, blood/mucus in the stools, or fecal urgency that develop while abroad or within 14 days of returning from any resource-limited destinations.

The aim of this study was to show the methods of treatment of traveler's diarrhea. Our study material consisted of publications, which were found in PubMed, ResearchGate and Google Scholar databases. In order to find the proper publications, the search has been conducted with the use of a combination of key words like: '' traveler's diarrhea,'', ''travel'', ''diarrhea'', ''antibiotic". The first step was to find proper publications from the last 30 years .The second step was to carry out an overview of the found publications.

Major goals of treatment of the traveler's diarrhea are: to maintain optimal hydration level, to reduce the severity and duration of diarrhea and to eradicate pathogenic agents responsible for causing this disease. The choice of the best possible method of tretament of traveler's diarrhea depends on the patient's general condition, his medical history, severity and duration of diarrhea and the pathogenic agent that causes this disease.