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What Causes Blood In Stool And Diarrhea In An Infant?
Question: Hi, ,my 6 month 25 day old kid is having blood in stool along with loose motions. This is the stool tests details (color: reddish, semisolid, alkaline, mucus: present, blood: present, OCCULT: positive, ova: nil, cyst: nil, bacteria: nil, RBC: plenty, Pus: plenty Reducing substance: nil). He started this problem since 19-Oct and on 23-Oct he had 11 loose motions with significant blood. Could you please advice what could be the possible causes, how to get them precisely diagnosed and sorted out? Thanks in advance
19-Oct: Minor blood stain
20-Oct: Minor blood stain + 7 motions (6 loose)
21-Oct: Hep-B + IPV
22-Oct: More blood stains + 4 motions (3 loose)
23-Oct: Significant bloos stains and 11 loose motions (all having blood)
PS: attached reports
19-Oct: Minor blood stain
20-Oct: Minor blood stain + 7 motions (6 loose)
21-Oct: Hep-B + IPV
22-Oct: More blood stains + 4 motions (3 loose)
23-Oct: Significant bloos stains and 11 loose motions (all having blood)
PS: attached reports
Brief Answer:
Dysentery, needs treatment with ORS and antibiotic
Detailed Answer:
Your child is suffering from dysentery which needs to be treated with antibiotics. Dysentery can have a number of causes. Bacillary dysentery is by far the most common cause of dysentery and the causal organisms include Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella species of bacteria. They penetrate the lining of the intestine and cause swelling, ulcerations, and severe diarrhoea containing blood and pus. Such infections are spread by faeco oral contamination of food and water and is uncommon in exclusively breast fed babies.
Continue breast feeding the baby. If the baby is not breast fed, ORS needs to be given. The reduction in urinary frequency will indicate dehydration which then would need treatment with intravenous fluids. Antibiotics need to be given. Talk to your doctor who would be able to assess if it needs to be given intravenously. The stool test has been helpful but blood counts and C-reactive protein would have been helpful in this regard. Zinc supplement like Zinconia needs to be given. Prebiotics and probiotics like Enterogermina can be given along.
You can read more about the condition at:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dysentery/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Dysentery, needs treatment with ORS and antibiotic
Detailed Answer:
Your child is suffering from dysentery which needs to be treated with antibiotics. Dysentery can have a number of causes. Bacillary dysentery is by far the most common cause of dysentery and the causal organisms include Shigella, Campylobacter, E. coli, and Salmonella species of bacteria. They penetrate the lining of the intestine and cause swelling, ulcerations, and severe diarrhoea containing blood and pus. Such infections are spread by faeco oral contamination of food and water and is uncommon in exclusively breast fed babies.
Continue breast feeding the baby. If the baby is not breast fed, ORS needs to be given. The reduction in urinary frequency will indicate dehydration which then would need treatment with intravenous fluids. Antibiotics need to be given. Talk to your doctor who would be able to assess if it needs to be given intravenously. The stool test has been helpful but blood counts and C-reactive protein would have been helpful in this regard. Zinc supplement like Zinconia needs to be given. Prebiotics and probiotics like Enterogermina can be given along.
You can read more about the condition at:
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Dysentery/Pages/Introduction.aspx
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
Hi Dr Diptanshu
Please refer to the attached CBC, CRP reports and kindly suggest what medication we need to give him? Any precautions we need to take? We gave Z&D-DS20 and his stools have become proper, which confirms your analysis of dysentery. Do we really need to give him antibiotics, considering no bacterial infection proven yet? He didn't have any fever since episode start. Hoping that the kid doesn't have anything major, could you please confirm? CRP, ESR have come positive, is that a cause for concern?
Thanks
XXXX
Please refer to the attached CBC, CRP reports and kindly suggest what medication we need to give him? Any precautions we need to take? We gave Z&D-DS20 and his stools have become proper, which confirms your analysis of dysentery. Do we really need to give him antibiotics, considering no bacterial infection proven yet? He didn't have any fever since episode start. Hoping that the kid doesn't have anything major, could you please confirm? CRP, ESR have come positive, is that a cause for concern?
Thanks
XXXX
Brief Answer:
No need to worry
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back. I have gone through the reports. An ESR of 15 is not high enough and you need not bother about it. ESR rises in any condition where the body is simply not doing well. CRP of 8 is positive but not at all high. It rises when there is some inflammation or infection in the body. Since the leucocyte count is not high, and since two days have already elapsed and the child is stabilising without fever, I would not suggest introduction of antibiotics provided that the stool does not worsen. Monitor the child for signs like lethargy. If the child is not lethargic, just let things continue as they are and things would soon be fine. There is no need to get concerned.
The precautions you need to take are maintaining general health and hygeine, and nothing more. Wish you and your family health. If you feel that my answer has been useful, please leave a positive review and a five star rating.
No need to worry
Detailed Answer:
Thanks for writing back. I have gone through the reports. An ESR of 15 is not high enough and you need not bother about it. ESR rises in any condition where the body is simply not doing well. CRP of 8 is positive but not at all high. It rises when there is some inflammation or infection in the body. Since the leucocyte count is not high, and since two days have already elapsed and the child is stabilising without fever, I would not suggest introduction of antibiotics provided that the stool does not worsen. Monitor the child for signs like lethargy. If the child is not lethargic, just let things continue as they are and things would soon be fine. There is no need to get concerned.
The precautions you need to take are maintaining general health and hygeine, and nothing more. Wish you and your family health. If you feel that my answer has been useful, please leave a positive review and a five star rating.
Note: For further queries related to your child health, Talk to a Pediatrician. Click here to Book a Consultation.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Yogesh D
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