Gastrointestinal infections usually cause diarrhea - frequent and watery bowel movements. Parasites, viruses, or bacteria can all cause diarrheal infections, which means that a child can exhibit a variety of symptoms.
Symptoms usually start with crampy, abdominal pain followed by diarrhea.
This usually lasts a few days but can last longer in some cases. When symptoms last more than 2 weeks, the condition is known as chronic diarrhea . Excessive loss of water in the diarrhea can lead to severe dehydration , especially in small children. Blood may also be found in a child's diarrheal stools, which indicates that the germ is causing damage to the lining of the bowel. The most common viral intestinal infection is rotavirus , which usually causes watery diarrhea.