Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffViral gastroenteritis is an intestinal infection marked by watery diarrhea, abdominal cramps, nausea or vomiting, and sometimes fever.
The most common way to develop viral gastroenteritis — often called stomach flu — is through contact with an infected person or ingestion of contaminated food or water. If you're otherwise healthy, you'll likely recover without complications. But for infants, older adults and people with compromised immune systems, viral gastroenteritis can be deadly.
There's no effective treatment for viral gastroenteritis, so prevention is key. In addition to avoiding food and water that may be contaminated, thorough and frequent hand-washing is your best defense.
- Parashar UD, et al. Viral gastroenteritis. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Online. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: The McGraw-Hill Companies; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=2895854. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Viral gastroenteritis. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/faq.htm. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Bresee J. Viral gastroenteritis. In: Long SS, et al. Principles and Practice of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 3rd ed. New York, N.Y.: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&isbn=978-0-7020-3468-8&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7020-3468-8..50066-3. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Viral gastroenteritis. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/viralgastroenteritis/index.htm. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Rotavirus: Clinical disease information. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/rotavirus/about_rotavirus.htm. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Norovirus: Q&A. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/revb/gastro/norovirus-qa.htm. Accessed April 15, 2009.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, et al. Updated norovirus outbreak management and disease prevention guidelines. MMWR. 2011;60:1. http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr6003a1.htm?s_cid=rr6003a1_e. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Kapikian AZ. Rotaviruses, noroviruses, and other gastrointestinal viruses. In: Goldman L, et al. Cecil Medicine. 23rd ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/linkTo?type=bookPage&isbn=978-1-4160-2805-5&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-2805-5..50408-0. Accessed May 18, 2011.
- Vomiting. Nemours Foundation. http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/emergencies/vomit.html. Accessed May 18, 2011.
Find Mayo Clinic on