Don’t just think about eating, be alert to intestinal infectious diseases in summer!

Recently, the temperature in Beijing has reached over 35 degrees Celsius. In the hot summer, many people start to overeat, drink cold drinks, and eat a lot of raw, cold and stimulating food. However, due to the high temperature and humidity in summer, it is conducive to the reproduction of bacteria and is the peak season for intestinal infectious diseases.

The main symptoms of intestinal infectious diseases include diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, etc. Severe cases can lead to dehydration, and in some extreme cases, it can even be life-threatening.

So, what bad habits in life can cause intestinal infectious diseases? How to prevent them? What should I do if I have diarrhea? In response to these questions, we interviewed Jia Lei, deputy director and chief physician of the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Endemic Diseases Control of Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention , to give health advice on the above issues.

1. What are the most common intestinal infectious diseases in summer?

There are many pathogens of intestinal infectious diseases in summer, and the symptoms are basically similar, which can also be called acute gastroenteritis. Some people, especially children, may vomit a lot, then have diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Some cases may have a fever.

In terms of pathogens, according to monitoring , the most common pathogen in summer is diarrhea-causing Escherichia coli, followed by Salmonella and then Campylobacter. Because people eat a lot of seafood, they may also get Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

We have rarely monitored typhoid and dysentery, which were familiar to us in the past. However , the proportion of diarrhea caused by pathogens with relatively mild pathogenicity, which was not paid much attention to in the past, is now increasing.

In fact, there are intestinal infectious diseases in winter, but in winter, they are mainly viruses. In summer, especially around August, there are more bacterial diarrhea. Bacteria are organisms. They also need to eat and drink, and they also need a suitable temperature to survive. Summer is a season that meets their needs. Under this temperature and humidity, it is easier for them to "live and work in peace and contentment" and "reproduce offspring". For us, the consequences are diarrhea, vomiting, etc.

2. What bad habits in daily life can cause intestinal infectious diseases?

One bad habit is to be too frugal. If you can't finish the meal, you must save it for the next meal. If you can't finish the next meal, you can save it for the next day, and don't heat it up fully before eating. We can cook less for each meal and finish it as soon as possible.

There is also an attitude that says "If it's not clean, you won't get sick if you eat it." None of us live in a vacuum, nor in a sterile environment. Such an environment is not necessarily good for the establishment of our immune system. But we should still provide the body with a relatively comfortable, clean and hygienic environment, maintain a healthy diet, a regular life and good sleep.

3. Many people will take antidiarrheal drugs after diarrhea. Is this practice scientific?

There is a story in ancient times, a general was shot by an arrow, a surgeon came over and said he was the best at treating arrow wounds, he took a pair of scissors and cut off the arrow, then left. The general said the arrowhead was still inside, he said it was your internal disease, I cured the surgical disease.

There are many types of diarrhea. The most basic type is invasive, where pathogens enter our intestinal wall cells and cause them to break down. This can be very painful and may cause a fever. Another type is where the cells secrete a large amount of fluid, which prevents the fluid from coming out, allowing the pathogens to remain in our intestines and continue to wreak havoc. Without a way out, this is not a good sign.

So if you have really severe diarrhea, don't think that you can just cut off the arrowhead. Most general hospitals in Beijing, especially those at level 2 or 3, have intestinal clinics, which are open from April to October every year. We ask professional doctors to check and prescribe the right medicine.

In addition, different diarrheas have different treatments. Antidiarrheal drugs are not a cure for the root cause. They need to be used in combination with other drugs and prescribed by a clinician. Do not blindly take antidiarrheal drugs or antibiotics on your own. Some pathogens may not be recommended for antibiotics because antibiotics may cause bacterial lysis and have other consequences.

But there is a situation where we have to take medicine with us. I personally recommend oral rehydration salts, which are mixed with a certain proportion of liquid and can be drunk in small sips to replenish the body's fluids. This is relatively safe.

4. How to prevent intestinal infectious diseases?

In fact, intestinal infectious diseases are all eaten. What is the difference? The difference is that different pathogens have different pathogenicity. Some may form a "special team" of 100 or 80 to make us sick, while others may require a "large army" of millions or even more to make us sick. So you may wonder how you can get sick without eating dirty things?

We may not wash our hands, or there are many flies and cockroaches at home, or the leftover food may be contaminated due to poor management, or we may bring leftover food to work tomorrow but forget to put it in the refrigerator. The bacteria have a short reproduction time, so if we forget to put it in the refrigerator, it may multiply. Or we may eat out every meal when traveling, and our hands may not be clean. These are all possible ways for us to get sick.

If there are leftovers after a meal, it is safer to put them in the refrigerator and then heat them up before eating.

Prevention should start from the transmission route. Since we are going to eat it, we must ensure that the food is clean. If we must eat out, we can choose restaurants with relatively higher hygiene levels. Restaurants in Beijing all have certain hygiene levels, such as A, B, etc.

Again, everyone's situation is different. Some people may have a more sensitive stomach, especially when eating out every day during travel, so you should pay special attention to these things. Can you order less or no cold dishes? Pay attention to hand hygiene at ordinary times, and bring some hand sanitizer to wipe when there is no water. If you pay attention to these small details, the probability of our intestinal infectious diseases will be much lower.

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