Traveller's diarrhea is caused due to: September 2009, 2010 & March 2013

Ans. C: ETEC The cause of Travellers' Diarrhoea The disease is most commonly spread through contaminated food and water and is therefore easily contracted. Approximately 80% of all repoed cases of Travellers' Diarrhoea are due to bacterial pathogens. The most common causes in adults are said to be Campylobacter, enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC), and Shigella. ETEC infection E.coli bacteria which produce enterotoxins, ETEC, are the single most common cause of Traveller's Diarrhoea, responsible for an estimated one-half of all diarrhoeal episodes in travellers to high risk regions. ETEC infection leads to profuse, watery diarrhoea, which although usually self limiting can be very uncomfoable and disruptive to normal activities. One of the major ETEC toxins that cause the intestinal fluid imbalance leading to watery diarrhoea is similar in structure and function to the cholera toxin. Indeed, ETEC infections can cause disease of comparable severity to cholera. Campylobacter jejuni infection Approximately one-fouh of Travellers' Diarrhoea cases are caused by infection by Campylobacter jejuni. This pathogen is often responsible for more serious symptoms of the disease. Infection can result in mild diarrhoea to severe dysentery, frequently associated with fever, abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Most significantly, people recovering from Campylobacter jejuni infections can be at risk for developing long lasting conditions, including reactive ahritis, irritable bowel syndrome, and neurological complications, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome. The disease may leave patients severely impaired.