Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Bacterial infection risk in dogs with acute bloody diarrhea
By Unterer, S et al.·Published in The Veterinary record·2015·Clinic of Small Animal Medicine, Germany·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prospective study of bacteraemia in acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea syndrome in dogs.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A group of 87 dogs with acute hemorrhagic diarrhea syndrome (AHDS), a serious condition causing severe diarrhea and vomiting, was studied to see if bacteria in the bloodstream (bacteraemia) affected their health. The researchers found that only 11% of the dogs had bacteraemia, which was similar to the 14% found in healthy dogs. Importantly, having bacteria in the blood did not change the severity of symptoms, how long the dogs needed to stay in the hospital, or their chances of survival. This means that antibiotics are not necessary to prevent infections in dogs with AHDS.
People also search for: dog acute hemorrhagic diarrhea treatment · dog vomiting and diarrhea · antibiotics for dog diarrhea
Abstract
In dogs with idiopathic acute haemorrhagic diarrhoea syndrome (AHDS), a serious loss of intestinal mucosal barrier integrity occurs. However, the incidence of bacterial translocation in dogs with idiopathic AHDS is not known. Thus, the objectives of this prospective study were to identify the incidence of bacteraemia, to evaluate the frequency of septic events and the influence of bacteraemia on various clinical and laboratory parameters, duration of hospitalisation and survival of dogs with idiopathic AHDS. The study included 87 dogs with idiopathic AHDS. Twenty-one healthy dogs served as control group. To evaluate clinical significance of bacterial translocation, blood culture results were compared between patients and controls. Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared between patients with positive and negative blood cultures. There was no significant difference in either incidence of bacteraemia between patients with idiopathic AHDS (11 per cent) and controls (14 per cent) or in severity of clinical signs, laboratory parameters, duration of hospitalisation or mortality between blood culture-positive and culture-negative dogs with idiopathic AHDS. The results of this study suggest that the incidence of bacteraemia in dogs with idiopathic AHDS is low and not different from that of healthy control dogs. Bacteraemia does not influence the clinical course or survival and thus antibiotic treatment is not indicated to prevent sepsis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25568184/