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Section 3. Summaries of Infectious Diseases
Balantidium coli Infections
(Balantidiasis)Clinical Manifestations
Etiology
Epidemiology
Diagnostic Tests
Treatment
Isolation of the Hospitalized Patient
Control Measures
CLINICAL MANIFESTATIONS: Most human infections are asymptomatic. Acute infection is characterized by the rapid onset of nausea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort or pain, and bloody or watery mucoid diarrhea. Infected patients can develop chronic intermittent episodes of diarrhea. Rarely, organisms spread to mesenteric nodes, pleura, or liver. Inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and local lymphatic vessels can result in bowel dilation, ulceration, and secondary bacterial invasion. Colitis produced by Balantidium coli often is indistinguishable from that produced by Entamoeba histolytica. Fulminant disease can occur in malnourished or otherwise
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