Cosa fare nella diarrea ematica? Tutto e niente?

Abstract

We present the case of a 7-year-old boy with 2 days’ fever and diarrhea, who starts to present hemorrhagic diarrhea. He was evaluated in the Emergency Department and hospitalized. Campylobacter and Norovirus have been isolated on stool. During hospitalization, the patient was treated with intravenous rehydration and antipyretics, with rapid clinical improvement and discharge on the third day of hospitalization. A review of the literature shows that hemorrhagic enteritis is a frequent condition in children, with different etiologies depending on age. In children older than one year of age, the first cause is infective, of viral or bacterial origin. Generally, supportive care is sufficient in consideration of good prognosis of the infections. The use of antibiotics generally does not change outcomes; in some cases, it can even be harmful. The regional protocol for the management of hemorrhagic diarrhea in the Puglia region will be presented, with the aim of early identification of STEC infections, given their clinical relevance in the evolutionary risk of haemolytic uremic syndrome.