Yersiniosis

Yersiniosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium of the genus Yersinia. In the United States, most yersiniosis infections among humans are caused by Y. enterocolitica. Yersiniosis is mentioned as a specific zoonotic disease to prevent outbreaks in European Council Directive 92/117/EEC.^[1] It is also known as pseudotuberculosis.^[2]

Infection with Y. enterocolitica occurs most often in young children.^{[citation needed]} The infection is thought to be contracted through the consumption of undercooked meat products, unpasteurized milk, or water contaminated by the bacteria. It has been also sometimes associated with handling raw chitterlings.^[3]

Symptoms

Infection with Y. enterocolitica can cause a variety of symptoms depending on the age of the person infected, therefore it's often referred to as "monkey of diseases". Common symptoms in children are fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, which is often bloody. Symptoms typically develop 4 to 7 days after exposure and may last 1 to 3 weeks or longer. In older children and adults, right-sided abdominal pain and fever may be the predominant symptoms, and may be confused with appendicitis. In a small proportion of cases, complications such as skin rash, joint pains, ileitis, erythema nodosum, and sometimes septicemia, acute arthritis^[2] or the spread of bacteria to the bloodstream (bacteremia) can occur.

Treatment

Treatment often requires aggressive antibiotic therapy, typically involving ciprofloxacin, chloramphenicol, ampicillin, and polymyxin.^[4] However, some gastoenterologists, especially in Scandinavia, consider antibiotic treatment mostly only when the patient has significant and persisting symptoms of gastroenteritis. Diarrhea caused by yersiniosis generally goes away on its own.^{[citation needed]}

In infants, however—particularly those who are 3 months old or younger—it can develop into a more serious condition called bacteremia, an infection of the blood. Infants who contract yersiniosis are usually treated in a hospital.^{[citation needed]}

References