Difference between Diarrhea and Dysentery

Dysentery and diarrhea are two basic clinical appearances particularly in pediatric practice. Diarrhea is a state that includes the incessant going of watery or loose stools whereas dysentery is actually an intestinal irritation, particularly in colon, that can prompt serious diarrhea with blood or mucus in feces. Both the clinical conditions are preventable and curable.

There are numerous major contrasts between these two conditions.

What is Diarrhea?

Diarrhea is the state of having no less than three free or fluid solid discharges every day with or without pain and abdominal cramps or in another words you can say passing of watery or liquid stools repeatedly in a day than normal. It frequently goes on for a couple days and can bring about severe fluid loss and salts from the body leading to severe dehydration .The loss of salts (such as potassium and sodium) can lead to condition like hyponatremia and hypokalemia that can be lethal.Furthermore World Health Organization states that one of the most leading cause of diarrhea in under age of 5 years is Diarrhea.

What is hyponatremia?

Hyponatremia is a condition in which there’s low concentration of sodium in blood being less than 135mmol/litre . Severe hyponatremia can cause lethargy, confusion, seizures, shock, coma and even death.

What is hypokalemia?

Hypokalemia is a state in which there’s a less concentration of potassium in blood usually less than 3.5mmol/Litre. Severe hypokalemia can lead to abnormal heart rhythms more accurately arrhythmias which can cause death.

What is Dysentery?

Dysentery is a greek word in which dys= stands for “disorder” and enteron= stands for “intestine” .It is an acute infection or inflammation of intestine causing ubiquitous symptoms that includes abdominal pain , nausea or vomiting , fever with chills with blood and mucous in loose or watery diarrhea . If dysentery isn’t treated on time it can be fatal .However dysentery is a type of gastroenteritis.

What is Gastroenteritis?

In simple words it is the inflammation of digestive tract.

Types of diarrhea:

Acute watery diarrhea: lasts for several hours or days

Acute bloody diarrhea: commonly known as dysentery

Persistent diarrhea: lasts more than 14 days or longer.

Types of dysentery:

Bacillary dysentery or shigellosis: bacterial infection caused by genus shigella

Amoebic dysentery: Protozoal infection caused by Entameba Histolytica .

Area:

Diarrhea is the state where small bowels gets affected.

Dysentery is the state where colon gets affected.

Viral or bacterial:

Diarrhea is usually viral. E. coli can likewise bring about watery diarrhea.

Pathogens causing diarrhea:

Bacterial agents: Ecoli, Campylobacter, clostridium species, shigella

Viral agents: Rota virus, Norovirus (calcivirus), Adenovirus.

Parasitic agents: Cryptosporidium parvum, giardiasis intestinalis.

Dysentery is usually bacterial and most commonly caused by Shigella other organisms include entamoeba histolytica, E coli and Salmonella. It can also be caused by viral and parasitic organisms.

Pain:

In diarrhea, the patient might possibly have pain or cramps but mostly he does not have pain.

In dysentery, the patient more often grumble about cramps and pain in lower abdomen.

Fever:

In diarrhea, less chances of fever is there in patient.

In dysentery, patient mostly has chances of fever.

Target:

Diarrhea is an infection which is found and targets just intestinal lumen with upper epithelial cells.

In dysentery, target is upper epithelial cells as well as colon ulceration is the result.

Cell death:

In diarrhea, there is not any kind of cell death and the contamination is brought about in light of the arrival of a few poisons by the tainting agent.

In dysentery, upper epithelial cells are assaulted and wrecked by the pathogen or agent causing disease.

Treatment:

Treat the cause. The antimicrobial and antimotility agents are utilized to treat diarrhea along with it sufficient fluid is given to compensate the water loss.

In dysentery, treatment can annihilate the pathogen which is creating the contamination and stop the aggravation. In addition to it drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration.

Effects:

In diarrhea, the effects are not that severe, aside from a danger of dehydration.

Dysentery can bring about a considerable measure of complications, if it left untreated.

Antibiotics:

In diarrhea, there is no need of antibiotics. Solutions of oral rehydration or intravenous liquid treatment might be used.

Dysentery quite often requires anti-toxin treatment. Intravenous anti-toxins might be required in extremely sick kids.

Conclusion:

From the above article we come to know that diarrhea can be said as watery stool having no mucus and blood whereas dysentery is a mucoid stool which might be come with blood. In diarrhea small bowels get affected while in dysentery colon gets affected. The patient might have pain or cramps in diarrhea /but in dysentery the patient more often grumble about pain in lower abdomen. The antimicrobial utilized to treat diarrhea while in dysentery, treatment can annihilate the pathogen but in both the above clinical condition it is important to prevent dehydration which is the leading cause of death due to loss of excessive water and essential salts.