Chronic Gastrointestinal Sequelae of an Acute Outbreak of Bacterial Gastroenteritis in Walkerton Ontario

Acute Bacterial dysentery leads to chronic symptoms of disturbed bowel habit in a minority of individuals. This condition known as post infectious irritable bowel syndrome (PI-IBS) remains poorly understood. This could allow material in the bowel to reach deeper tissues of the bowel wall leading to inflammation and changes in muscle and nerve function. This is also early evidence that genetic programming of people with PI-IBS prevents them from turning off inflammation once it begins. Literature suggests that IBS may develop at greater rates in individuals with pro-inflammatory genotype and that these individuals may be at increased risk of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).