Symptoms and signs of faeco-oral diseases

Most – but not all – faeco-oral diseases have diarrhoea as their main symptom, and for this reason these conditions are also known as diarrhoeal diseases. Other common symptoms are vomiting, abdominal pain, and sweating or shivering. A high-grade fever is a sign of some faeco-oral diseases, i.e. a temperature of 38.5^oC or above, measured with a thermometer. Of the diseases listed in Table 32.1 earlier, all except typhoid fever, ascariasis and taeniasis are characterised by diarrhoea. As it is such a common symptom of so many faeco-oral diseases, we will focus on diarrhoea in more detail.