What is stomach flu? What are its causes and symptoms?

Whenever we talk about colds, we will definitely think of two types, the first is wind-heat cold, and the second is wind-cold cold. However, few people know that our intestines and stomachs can also catch colds. So, what is a gastrointestinal cold? What are the causes and symptoms? I will give you a detailed introduction.

Gastrointestinal cold

Gastrointestinal cold is a type of cold. Gastrointestinal cold is mainly caused by a virus called "Coxsackie" and is accompanied by mixed bacterial infection. Gastrointestinal cold is also known as "vomiting upper respiratory tract infection" in medicine. Its symptoms are mainly: bloating, abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhea, multiple bowel movements a day, physical fatigue, and in severe cases, it can lead to dehydration, electrolyte disorders in the body, and damage to the immune system.

Causes

The main cause of gastrointestinal colds is external stimulation and other factors. It occurs more often when the weather changes from cold to warm. This is due to the stimulation of the stomach and intestines by cold air, coupled with abnormal living habits and poor diet. Gastrointestinal colds are different from gastroenteritis. The main difference is that patients with acute gastroenteritis often have a history of unclean diet, nausea, and vomiting. The vomitus often has an irritating odor, but generally there is no fever. Many people often mistake gastrointestinal colds for acute gastroenteritis at the beginning of their illness.

Clinical manifestations

The most common causes of "stomach cold" are viral infection and dietary allergies. After bacteria and viruses invade the throat and cause inflammation, they will be swallowed into the stomach and intestines through saliva, causing gastrointestinal discomfort. The symptoms are as follows:

1. Vomiting

When pathogens or other toxic substances enter the stomach, the stomach muscles are stimulated to contract and the stomach contents are expelled from the body.

2. Diarrhea

It is mainly because the gastrointestinal tract is irritated and secretions increase significantly, affecting the absorption function, causing excessive water in the intestinal cavity, and intestinal motility also increases, so the stools discharged are all loose stools.

3. Abdominal pain

The intestinal peristalsis is twice as fast as normal, causing pain, or the mucosa on the intestinal wall becomes red, swollen and painful due to inflammation.