The symptom of diffuse, watery diarrhea with mucus flecks is most suggestive of infection with which organism?

The symptom of diffuse, watery diarrhea with mucus flecks is most suggestive of infection with which organism?

• A. Vibrio cholerae
• B. Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
• C. Shigella dysenteriae
• D. Yersinia enterocolitica

Answer: (A)

A large-volume, secretory, noninflammatory diarrhea pattern points to cholera from Vibrio cholerae. The cholera toxin boosts cAMP in enterocytes, driving massive chloride and water secretion into the gut. That produces extremely watery stools with mucus flecks, often described as rice-water stools, and little to no blood or inflammatory cells in the stool. Shigella dysenteriae causes inflammatory dysentery with blood and mucus and cramping, not a profuse watery output. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea with severe cramps. Yersinia enterocolitica often presents with fever and abdominal pain and can mimic appendicitis, with less classic watery, mucus-filled stools.

A large-volume, secretory, noninflammatory diarrhea pattern points to cholera from Vibrio cholerae. The cholera toxin boosts cAMP in enterocytes, driving massive chloride and water secretion into the gut. That produces extremely watery stools with mucus flecks, often described as rice-water stools, and little to no blood or inflammatory cells in the stool.

Shigella dysenteriae causes inflammatory dysentery with blood and mucus and cramping, not a profuse watery output. Enterohemorrhagic E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea with severe cramps. Yersinia enterocolitica often presents with fever and abdominal pain and can mimic appendicitis, with less classic watery, mucus-filled stools.