It's another year of National Day holiday. While relaxing and enjoying travel, everyone should also be alert to the health signals emitted by their bodies. For example, some people are usually fine, but they like to have a stomachache when they go out. What's going on? Today, the pharmacist will take you to learn about travelers' diarrhea. It is an acute intestinal infectious disease. Traveler's diarrhea is an acute intestinal infectious disease that refers to the discharge of three or more unformed stools (such as loose stools, watery stools, etc.) during or within 24 hours after travel, or irregular frequency of unformed stools accompanied by symptoms such as fever, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, etc. Traveler's diarrhea usually occurs within one week of the traveler's arrival at the destination, with the peak period occurring on the 2nd to 3rd day; The course of most people's illness lasts from 1 to 7 days, with about 10% of patients exceeding 7 days. Traveler's diarrhea is often acute and self limiting, rarely life-threatening, but has a significant impact on travelers' itinerary planning and travel quality. Research shows that about 1/5 of tourists need to rest in bed due to diarrhea, and 1/3 of tourists are forced to change their itinerary. Why does it cause stomach problems when traveling far? After ingesting food and water contaminated with microorganisms, pathogens can enter the body, leading to dysbiosis of the gut microbiota, or infection with bacteria, viruses, and parasites, causing diarrhea. Eating unclean food from the streets can also lead to illness, such as unprocessed seafood, unwashed and peeled fruits and vegetables. Irregular diet and sleep patterns during the journey can lead to weakened immunity, and pathogens can easily invade the body. Poor hygiene conditions, repeated use of travel and accommodation items, and inadequate hygiene in catering and processing can also cause diarrhea. Basic diseases affect patients with digestive disorders, with weak gastrointestinal function, damaged mucosal barrier, and susceptibility to invasion by external pathogens. Patients with immune diseases have weakened immune system function, making it difficult to resist pathogen invasion and increasing the risk of diarrhea. In patients with diabetes, gastrointestinal autonomic nervous function disorder is easy to cause bacterial reproduction and diarrhea. Take medication with you to prevent emergencies. For those with mild diarrhea, alternate between drinking saline and sugary liquids to maintain hydration in the body. In addition, mild diarrhea can be treated with montmorillonite powder, loperamide, and bismuth salicylate. In addition, severe diarrhea should be treated with oral rehydration salts (ORS). If diarrhea worsens or is accompanied by moderate to severe or invasive symptoms (such as fever, moderate to severe abdominal pain, or bloody stools), loperamide combined with antibiotics should be used for treatment. In terms of antibiotic use, azithromycin is a first-line treatment for acute diarrhea with mild to severe fever caused by dysentery and watery stools; Fluoroquinolone drugs can be used to treat moderate to severe, non diarrheal traveler's diarrhea; Rifaximin can be used to treat severe, non diarrheal traveler's diarrhea. But avoid using it for invasive diarrhea caused by Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, or other reasons. Four details make traveling more reassuring. Pay attention to food safety and try to eat cooked and thoroughly cooked food. Avoid eating raw food and unclean street food; Keep drinking water clean by drinking boiled and bottled water as much as possible, and avoid drinking tap water and well water directly; Pay attention to balancing work and rest when traveling, avoid excessive consumption of energy and physical strength, ensure sufficient rest time, and enhance one's own immunity. Maintain good health and hygiene, keep hands clean, wash hands before and after meals or when in contact with public goods, take frequent showers and change clothes. Wen/Liu Yan (Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital) (News Agency)