Alternate Names: Food poisoning - Campylobacter enteritis; Infectious diarrhea - Campylobacter enteritis; Bacterial diarrhea

Causes and Risks: Campylobacter enteritis is a common cause of intestinal infection and also a cause of one of the many types of traveler’s diarrhea. It is usually acquired by eating or drinking contaminated food such as raw poultry, fresh produce, water, or unpasteurized milk. It can also be acquired by close contact with sick people or animals. There is an incubation period of 2 to 4 days before symptoms occur. Symptoms generally last 1 week. The incidence is estimated to be 1% of the U.S. population. Risk factors include recent family infection with Campylobacter, recent consumption of improperly prepared food, or recent travel in an area of poor hygiene or sanitation.

Prevention: Avoid improperly prepared foods and practice sanitary food preparation. For more information please see the Centers for Disease Control’s Campylobacter enteritis information.

Symptoms:

• Cramping abdominal pain
• Watery diarrhea, sometimes bloody
• Fever

Signs and Tests:

• Positive stool culture for Campylobacter jejuni
• Campylobacter antibodies; although this is rarely tested

Treatment:

The infection typically resolves on its own and is not usually treated with antibiotics. Severe symptoms respond to antibiotic therapy with several different antibiotics including ciprofloacin and Bactrim..

Self-care measures to avoid dehydration include drinking electrolyte solutions to replace the fluids lost by diarrhea. People with diarrhea who are unable to take fluids orally because of nausea may need medical attention and intravenous fluids, especially children. People taking diuretics need to be cautious with diarrhea and may need to stop taking the diuretic during the acute episode as directed by the health care provider.

Prognosis: Most people recover in 5 to 8 days.

Complications:

Immunosuppressed people with this condition are more susceptible to sepsis, endocarditis, meningitis, and thrombophlebitis from the spread of the bacteria into their bloodstream.

Some patients will get a reactive arthritis called Reiter’s syndrome after a Campylobacter enteritis infection.

About 1 in 1000 patients with Campylobacter enteritis develop a nerve problem that results in paralysis, called Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Call for an appointment with your health care provider if diarrhea recurs or persists for more than a week, or if blood in the stool is noted.