Ans- By understanding gastroenteritis meaning and its various types, you can identify the symptoms associated with the disease and take proper preventative care to avoid serious complications. Adults usually encounter mild cases of the infection, while people with a weakened immune system have the risk of getting severely dehydrated caused by a sudden attack of diarrhoea or vomiting. Therefore, it is important to look for signs of dehydration such as dry skin or mouth, especially in young children. The main complication of this disease is dehydration, caused by the excessive loss of water and essential nutrients from the body faster than it can be replaced. The patient may require hospitalization if dehydration is severe and the body is not able to replace the lost fluids on its own. Dehydration can be fatal in some rare cases.