Beware of bacterial infections

The rainy season provides the perfect wet and warm conditions for bacteria to thrive, while the poor drainage system worsens hygiene conditions helping the multiplied bacteria to spread and infect people, writes Eunice Rukundo

If you have not suffered an intestinal bacterial infection recently, at least you have heard of someone that has. The rampancy of the infection could mean that there are more diagnoses of the infection in the medical world and increased awareness among the public in general, as suggested by Dr John Leonard Ayebare of Care Clinic.

It could also however be that there are actually more cases of the infection due to the prevailing atmospheric conditions as suggested by Dr Basil Kabogoza, a private general practitioner.

Dr Kabogoza explains that the rainy season provides the perfect wet and warm conditions for bacteria to thrive, especially with just appropriate warmth on the occasional sunny days as is the weather these days. “Of course with our poor drainage system that worsens hygiene conditions generally, the multiplied bacteria become easy to spread and infect more people,” he says.

It would need medical research to establish in fact that there are more cases of bacterial infection nowadays, but Dr Ayebare agrees that the change in lifestyle today would also make the rampancy in infections possible. “Other than living highly stressed lives, we engage in a lot of unnatural tendencies from diet to lifestyle activities like saunas, steam baths and the like, all unnatural procedures that make our bodies weaker and more susceptible to infection,” he explains.

In event of the infection, some people will present with a bit of fever that may be difficult to differentiate from that caused by the more familiar malaria infection. The more common symptoms however, which are what may differentiate this infection, are abdominal; stomach ache or pain, diarrhea, bloating, flatulence (gas in the abdomen) or even constipation.

“Sometimes the infection won’t cause symptoms as definite as these; it could be just abdominal discomfort that you can’t explain, or fatigue and uneasiness with a mixture of these symptoms in mild doses,” explains Kabogoza. In more severe cases there can be chills, nausea and vomiting, just like with malaria.

As is the case with other infections, symptoms will ultimately differ in victims depending on one’s immunity. “Intestinal bacteria infections also tend to be none specific or exclusive to this infection because there are many other more common infections caused by bacteria which therefore have almost similar symptoms,” says Dr Paul Semugoma of International Hospital Kampala.

It is no wonder even at the doctor’s, the infection diagnosis is almost never instant, usually first mistaken with malaria or any other of these bacterial infections.

“If nothing shows in the blood for a while and you still don’t feel well, however mild the discomfort, insist on having your stool examined to even the doctor who doesn’t suggest it; it is the fastest way to diagnose an intestinal infection,” advises Kabogoza on how you could establish a correct diagnosis.

Something you ate or drunk
According to the doctors, bacteria live in every conceivable environment all over the world; in soil, seawater, and deep within the earth’s crust, even in our bodies on the skin and in the airways, mouth, and digestive tracts, often without causing any harm. In the intestines actually, bacteria are even useful in fulfilling a host of digestive functions in humans such as aiding the breaking down of certain foods. “Trouble comes with an imbalance of bacteria in the gut, which is usually due to introduction of what is in lay man’s language called ‘bad bacteria’; then, there is disease in the body,” says Kabogoza.

These bacteria are introduced into the body through the mouth; that is, from contaminated food or drink. And this can be whether it is rainy or not. “The chances of feeding on something contaminated with bacteria are however higher during the rainy season because hygiene standards drop and bacteria are literally everywhere so almost any food you eat served unhygienically might be contaminated,” explains Kabogoza. The freely flowing sewage now gets the germs to the places they would not get easily like the doorways of restaurants and the foods sold in the open markets for instance.

Dr Semugoma says foods and drinks taken in raw or cold like fruits, roadside pastries like doughnuts and pancakes, and juices, pose a greater risk to spreading the infection.

More serious than suspected
How serious is a bacterial infection? Semugoma puts it bluntly, “It kills.” Other bacterial infections include dysentery, meningitis, typhoid and malaria among many others, conditions with well established severity whose mention therefore would instantly explain the seriousness of the condition. Little is known of the bacterial intestinal infection however and it may not arouse as much fear as say the sound of meningitis or cholera.

“Bacteria intestinal infections can be severe too however and in a short time because they progress rapidly, especially in the intestines where it is constantly warm and moist so it is no joke and could be fatal,” cautions Kabogoza, “Severity will depend on immunity or the intensity of the bacteria taken in.”

While logically a baby would for instance be expected to suffer more from a bacterial infection than an adult, and children do suffer more usually, there can be instances where even in the same house; an adult could suffer more than the child. “Probably because the adult’s infection is more intense due to consumption of larger amounts of the bacteria than the baby,” explains the doctor.