Does AIDS cause diarrhea? What are the causes and characteristics?

Diarrhea is a common digestive disease, but did you know that sometimes diarrhea is caused by AIDS? AIDS patients often have diarrhea, so what is the cause of AIDS diarrhea? What are the characteristics?

Causes of AIDS diarrhea

The AIDS diarrhea symptoms caused by AIDS are mainly caused by the immune system. After being infected with HIV, the immune system declines, and the body is easily invaded by some external viruses or bacteria from the body, thereby causing some physical changes. Among them, diarrhea is the main manifestation of the gastrointestinal tract of AIDS patients, especially in developing countries and tropical regions. The incidence of diarrhea can be as high as 90%. Among the AIDS patients treated by us at the Tanzania National Medical Center, 27-36% of them have diarrhea. The pathogens are related to infections such as cryptosporidium, amoeba, bacillary dysentery, typhoid bacillus, cytomegalovirus, and fungi.

Characteristics of AIDS diarrhea

1. The frequency of bowel movements is significantly higher than usual, the stool is thin, the water content is increased, the daily stool volume exceeds 200g, or contains undigested food or purulent blood or mucus. Diarrhea is often accompanied by symptoms such as urgency to defecate, anal discomfort, and incontinence.

2. It is divided into acute and chronic categories. Acute diarrhea is a sudden onset, and the course of the disease is within 2 to 3 weeks. Chronic diarrhea refers to recurrent diarrhea with a course of more than two months or an interval of 2 to 4 weeks.

3. The effect of drug treatment for diarrhea during the AIDS window period is not obvious, and it usually lasts for 1-2 weeks to heal on its own. For diarrhea during the AIDS period, the cause must be found and the right medicine must be given, otherwise it will be life-threatening if it is not cured for a long time.

What to do if you have severe diarrhea

Severe diarrhea can cause electrolyte disorder and dehydration in the body, which is dangerous. In addition to seeking medical attention immediately, you should drink more water and eat more nutritious and easily digestible food. Do not reduce food intake to stop diarrhea.