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Melena is a form of blood in stool which refers to the dark black, tarry feces that are commonly associated with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. [1] The black color and characteristic strong odor are caused by hemoglobin in the blood being altered by digestive enzymes and intestinal bacteria .
[1] [10] Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. [2] [6] [11] Complications may include dehydration. [3] The cause of dysentery is usually the bacteria from genus Shigella, in which case it is known as shigellosis, or the amoeba Entamoeba histolytica; then it is called amoebiasis. [1]
Hematemesis, melena, and hematochezia are symptoms of acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Bleeding that brings the patient to the physician is a potential emergency and must be considered as such until its seriousness can be evaluated.
“The virus enters your body through contaminated food, water, surfaces or through direct contact with an infected person, and infects cells in your small intestine," says Chung.
“Nausea and or vomiting are usually the first symptoms of norovirus,” says infectious disease expert Amesh A. Adalja, MD, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.
Data − from traces in wastewater to hospitalizations − show higher levels of flu virus circulating in most of the U.S. So far this season, over 160,000 people have landed in the hospital from ...
Blood in stool looks different depending on how early it enters the digestive tract—and thus how much digestive action it has been exposed to—and how much there is. The term can refer either to melena, with a black appearance, typically originating from upper gastrointestinal bleeding; or to hematochezia, with a red color, typically originating from lower gastrointestinal bleeding. [6]
[3] [4] Antibiotics are recommended for significant or persistent symptoms, and can be taken with loperamide to decrease diarrhea. [3] Hospitalization is required in less than 3 percent of cases. [2] Estimates of the percentage of people affected range from 20 to 50 percent among travelers to the developing world. [3]