Gastroenteritis: etiology, pathophysiology and clinical manifestations.

The infectious etiologic agents of gastroenteritis are manifold and have only recently been studied in greater depth. Part of the problem in studies pertaining to diarrhea is the difficulty in identifying fecal "pathogens" among an enormous number of indigenous fecal microorganisms. Finally, the recognition of the pathogenicity of enterotoxins has created an awareness of the complexity of gastrointestinal physiology with host-parasite interactions.