Brief Answer: viral or bacterial infection of gastrointestinal Detailed Answer: Hi, thanks for using healthcare magic Gastroenteritis is inflammation/infection of the gastrointestinal tract causing diarrhoea, vomiting, fever, joint and muscle pain, abdominal pain. Dehydrations occurs as a result of the fluid loss due to decreased appetite, fever (loss of fluid through the skin), vomiting and diarrhoea. It can be caused by a virus or bacteria though viral infections are more common. There are different types of viruses and bacteria that can cause this type of infection. Examples of viruses are: rotavirus, adenovirus, norwalk viruses Examples of bacteria are e coli, salmonella, shigella, campylobacter Most of these infections are spread through the mouth. This means that the virus or bacteria is spread when food or drink contaminated with the virus/bacteria is ingested. This means either food that was contaminated with one of these was used or you came into contact with someone with the infection and touched a surface they may have touched with their contaminated hands (then ate and ingested food or drink) These infections are prevented by hand washing. If hands are thoroughly washed then no infected organisms would be on hands to transfer to food or drink. I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

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