Travelers’ Diarrhea Disease Info
This information is intended for U.S. Healthcare Professionals only.
What is travelers’ diarrhea?
People get travelers’ diarrhea by eating food and drinking water that contain germs. People can get this illness in areas of the world where the drinking water is not clean.
Most travelers’ diarrhea cases begin abruptly. Usually, a traveler experiences four to five loose or watery bowel movements each day. Other common symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal
cramping, bloating, fever, urgency, and malaise.
How common is travelers’ diarrhea?
Twenty to 50% of travelers may develop diarrhea depending on the region of the world they visit. In fact, diarrhea is the most common illness of travelers. Men and woman are at equal risk for developing
travelers’ diarrhea. In general, travelers at risk for diarrhea commonly come from industrialized nations and travel to high-risk areas that are primarily within developing or less industrialized nations of
the world, including Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Areas of lesser risk include China and some Caribbean nations. Travel to areas of the United States, Canada, Northern Europe and Australia
pose the lowest risk to travelers.
Risk areas for travelers’ diarrhea
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What are the symptoms of travelers’ diarrhea?
The symptoms of travelers’ diarrhea vary. Generally, diarrhea occurs within the first week of travel and lasts up to 3-4 days.
Treatment of travelers’ diarrhea
For patients diagnosed with travelers’ diarrhea, oral rehydration is often beneficial to replace lost fluids and electrolytes. Additionally, certain patient may benefit from antibiotic therapy usually given
for 3-5 days. Antimotility agents can also be used to treat the symptoms of travelers’ diarrhea.
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SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Xifaxan® (rifaximin) Tablets are indicated for the treatment of patients (≥12 years of age) with travelers’ diarrhea caused by noninvasive strains of
Escherichia coli. Xifaxan should not be used in patients with diarrhea complicated by fever or blood in the stool or diarrhea due to pathogens other than Escherichia coli. Xifaxan should be
discontinued if diarrhea symptoms get worse or persist more than 24-48 hours and alternative antibiotic therapy should be considered. Escherichia coli has been shown to develop resistance to rifaximin in vitro. However, the clinical significance of such an effect has not been studied.
In clinical trials, Xifaxan was generally well tolerated. The most common side effects (vs. placebo) were flatulence 11.3% (vs. 19.7%), headache 9.7% (vs. 9.2%), abdominal pain 7.2% (vs. 10.1%), rectal tenesmus 7.2%
(vs. 8.8%), defecation urgency 5.9% (vs. 9.2%) and nausea 5.3% (vs. 8.3%).
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